a glimpse of the past

I like blogging because it keeps me in touch with those that I am unable to see often and those that I haven't seen in years.

The last time I saw Hannah M. was January 2006! Too long ago. She recently started a blog of her own and it has brought back so many memories....as I sit here and chuckle so many memories are coming to mind. In high school we took the same math class together...and struggled through. Our classmates called us Hannah2 (or H squared) because we were pretty much inseparable. I first met Hannah sitting in the counselors office my sophomore year in high school. I think we were getting our schedules reviewed and since we were both Hannah H's, we ended up in there at the same time. We hit it off right away. Some things I remember are having potato soup at my house very often during the school year, of course our math class, and theT-shirts we made at the end of the year that said "H2 barely passed 7th hour math". I was so glad to have a friend in high school like her because when it came down to our mom's getting pregnant at the same time, no one understood me more than she did. At 17, it wasn't the most "cool" thing to have a pregnant mom. I am reminded of this as she recently blogged about her little brother's 10th birthday.

As the years have gone by, we don't stay in touch as often as we should or would like to. Mostly because she is in Kansas and I live in Texas probably. I suppose that is why it is hard to keep up with most people in high school, you just go your separate directions. She and her Scott (yes she married a Scott too) have moved a little faster in the kid department than we have. But she has three of the most adorable girls ever! Check out her blog for some great stories and beautiful pics of her precious family.

And, in tribute to our brothers turning 10 this year, I will share some pictures. Both of these 10 year olds have been uncles for a few years now, crazy, I know. I miss you Hannah! Hope to see you soon.

This is Hannah M.'s brother with two of his nieces! So cute.

And, of course this is my little brother with my sister's new baby girl. Cute as well!

a facelift for my blog

My blog got a facelift today, thanks to www.thecutestblogontheblock.com! Love it!! Still in revision, but it works for now. Anyone know how I can get a fun header with a picture of us on it. I know what I want, but the picture is enormous and it needs cropped. I don't have the capabilities on my computer to do that.

true friends

Today I got to spend the whole afternoon with two beautiful ladies, Marissa and Francesca! We hand lunch, went baby shower shopping, mall walked, looked at our potential house, and fed the duckies (or tried at least). Then our husbands joined us for a BBQ dinner, thanks Weisigers!!!

I don't know what I would do without my friend Marissa. I have been truly blessed to find such a great friend down here. She has been there for me through so much. When I got out of the hospital she organized meals to come to our house for few days. That is just the kind of person she is with such a giving heart.....love her!!!!!

It has been raining a bit today. I am so thankful for it. Unfortunately, I can't say it is only 69 degrees here like my mom was saying it was in Kansas today. It is rainy and muggy. It is starting to cool down a little bit here.

So sleepy, must retire.

thank goodness for aunts!

Heidi's sister-in-law lives about 20 minutes away from me. Needless to say we don't get to see our precious nephew and niece enough. Jenae is a VERY talented photographer - I know this because she took the photos of us on our blog. Check out her blog for more recent photos of the Tankersley family. Too cute, great job Jenae.

love and inspiration

Good Sunday Morning!

It has been a fairly uneventful weekend of studying and working so far. Friday evening Scott and I helped out at the Arts Goggle and Studio 909. The featured artists this time were Kevin Powers, who is a good friend of ours. He, and his wife, Cristina, used to go to our church before they moved to Arlington. It is a bit far of a drive for them from Arlington to Aledo for church. Cristina is having a baby due on Halloween. She is just adorable. Kevin paints amazing creations on canvas. He was a featured artist at the show in April when not many people were out and about that night. On Friday, he sold two paintings during the show! Yay, go Kevin. We had quite a lot of people come through and enjoy the live music and beautiful art pieces.

The other featured artist was Mandy Orr. She makes wearable pieces of art (jewelry). I met Mandy in August when she became a client of mine. I instantly made a connection with her, but had only met her one time. After hearing about my surgery, she was so generous to surprise me with one of her healing pieces. She made me a bracelet and earrings made of Hematite and Carnelian. She wrote me a beautiful card of healing wishes. Enclosed was a card about what she had sent.

Carnelian is a great stone for the
organs and reproductive aspects of the body.
It encourages blood flow. Hematite restores calmness
of the body and mind. Magnetic Hematite will ground
and support you on your everyday activities,
allowing you to feel more security
in your overall life and future.

What an amazing gift of compassion from one woman to another! She has a website that she sells her jewelry from at www.SpiritPatterns.com. All of her pieces are made with beautiful stones and beads that she has collected from all over the world. She is very educated on the different types of stones and there healing powers. A lot of time goes into her work and I feel so blessed to have received a piece from her fabulous collection!

Gotta get ready for another day! Church, lunch at Scott's moms house, study, study, study! Have a blessed one everyone! Thanks for stopping by. XOXO

I have a happy husband!

Today was Scott's last day at The Vitamin Shoppe. He is very excited to move onto better things for him and us. Although the team has already been practicing for over a week, tomorrow will be his first official practice. He has been counting down the days. He doesn't have another part-time job lined up yet, but he has had offers...and some very promising leads come his way.

A lady I worked for doing massage last spring (well I still sort of work for her, but that is complicated) called me this morning. I used to do massage at her wellness center a lot and do office work for her before I started my job at Veria. She is involved in another art show this weekend that is along Magnolia Ave. where her center is located. Artists come and set up in different businesses and show their work off to the public. I helped her with an event last spring. When she heard Scott may be in need of work for a couple of weeks before one of his leads pans out she got in touch with him about helping her out at the center. YAY!!! We are going to both help her out at the Arts Goggle Friday night so she will talk to him more about it then.

I have some really great things going on with me as well. I have recently decided and began the training process to become a birth and postpartum birth doula! Doula??? Glad you asked...

The types of doulas are as varied as the types of women who are going to labor. Some doulas have highly developed clinical skills, allowing them to do cervical exams and diagnose problems during labor. Other doulas have trained themselves to be constant companions, never leaving the mother's side and never tiring of giving positive feedback. There are doulas who are trained in Lamaze, Bradley or Hypnobirthing. There are doulas who will speak to the medical staff for you, and there are doulas who will not speak to the medical staff for you.

Regardless of the way she practices, there are some things that all doulas do. These skills and techniques are what make a doula so valuable during labor.

Resource for Comfort Measures - Having a doula is like having your very own talking labor guide. Doulas not only know what helps during labor, they also know when it helps and how to do it. Your doula can either perform these comfort measures herself, or help your family or friends to support you with comfort measures. Your labor partners will feel more confident knowing that they are doing the right thing.

Constant Encourager - A doula not only encourages the mother to keep going, but she encourages the labor support to keep going as well. The process of labor can be long, and it gets hardest just before it is over. A doula can keep you and your coach focused during the most intense part of labor, helping you to manage any discomfort or pain.

Helps Explain Options - A doula is also a source of information about ways to handle your labor. Medical attendants don't always have time to get into all the options available, and rarely give all the risks and benefits for the options they do give. A doula can help you understand what options are available, and what each options consists of. This can help you make better informed decisions.

Yes, yes, I am still continuing my Holistic Nutrition. I am going to be a busy girl. Training to be a doula consists of several steps. I am currently working on finishing my Breastfeeding Course on-line. I will finish that up here in a few minutes and send for my certification. I have to have that class before I can attend the Postpartum workshop. The birth and postpartum doula workshop is in November. I am going to Fayetteville to take it for a week. An excuse to see my sister again! I have a laundry list of items to complete before attending but most will occur after the workshop. I got three books in the mail today that I will read before the workshop. After that I will have to continue reading several books, attend a birth class such as Lamaze or The Bradley Method, attend three live birth that are at least eight hours in length each. (Guess I would have to attend about 12 births if they are anything like Heidi's :)) There are a few more things to do, but you get the drift. I have this whole vision of having a women's center devoted to helping women who intend to become pregnant to continuing during and after birth. I would like to provide nutritional consulting, massage therapy, and doula services. I have talked to several of my friends who really think Fort Worth needs something like that. Believe it or not, there isn't much like that around here. I can dream anyway. So, I am totally excited about all of this. And, like I said, I am going to be a busy girl. I have been informing Scott of everything I have learned about breast feeding so far. I have a feeling he is going to hear a lot more about birthing and babies in the upcoming months than he bargained for. At least he will be fully informed when it is his turn though. He seems interested, which I am very happy about. He is being so supportive of my new venture! He is so wonderful.

Well, ya'll what am I still doing up at this hour? And, I still have a test to finish. Good night, sleep tight. Miss you, love you all! Thanks for caring, thanks for reading.

this is our children's future we are talking about

An article about Sarah Palin - Republican Candidate for Vice President.

A Candidate For Our Daughters

September 1st, 2008 by Mary Ellen Barrett

Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska is now the Republican candidate for Vice-president. This news made the women I know — pro-life, fiscally conservative, desperate to have a good female role model in politics for our daughters — extremely happy and proud. When the announcement came I gathered my older daughters around the small kitchen television set and explained to them that this woman with five children, with a loving husband and strong commitment to her family had a very good chance at becoming our next Vice President. I told them that this was history in the making and I encouraged them to watch her and learn that it is possible to be an uncompromising, tough politician and still be motherly, feminine and approachable.

It did not take long for the criticism to start pouring in from the Democratic Party. That is to be expected; they must have been as shocked as the rest of the country at Senator McCain’s brilliance in choice and timing. The talking heads were quick to point out Palin’s lack of experience in foreign policy and youth as drawbacks. Perhaps their time would have been better spent reading their own candidate’s resume and slinking off to a corner to ponder the irony of it all.

There has been a great deal of discussion about her lack of foreign policy experience in comparison to Senator Biden, the other candidate for Vice President. True, he does have more policy experience. It doesn’t mean he’ll get it right should the need arise. I have had a driver’s license for over 20 years and a lot of experience driving. This doesn’t mean I’m qualified to drive a cab in a busy, confusing city. There is no guarantee that I would get anyone, anywhere in a timely manner. Biden might have a lot of years under his belt but it doesn’t mean he’ll get us to the right place.

I saw a few criticisms on blogs and websites saying that a woman should be home raising her children. The fact is that God has given some woman extraordinary talents and skills to be used. There are women who are called to serve in a more visible way. To change the world not merely one diaper at a time but one country at a time. Our faith is blessed with many examples of holy women who have simultaneously raised families and worked. Venerable Marie-Zelie Martin, mother of Saint Therese of Lisieux and Saint Gianna Molla leap to mind.

Sarah Palin has been an elected official for 13 years. She has accomplished a great deal for the city she governed and for the great state of Alaska. She cut taxes, routed out corruption and started a process which will result in a natural gas pipeline being built in her state, benefiting the entire country.

She did a lot of this while pregnant. Speaking as a woman who has also been pregnant most of the last 13 years I can honestly say that some days my biggest accomplishment is watching my feet swell. After her brilliant speech accepting the job as a running mate to Senator McCain, Palin, her family and the McCains were interviewed by People Magazine for the upcoming issue. The interviewer was asked to wait a few minutes while the governor changed a diaper and located her breast pump. This is obviously a woman of boundless energy and a great ability to organize her time. Mothers all over the country can relate to this and we smile. We are perfectly willing to wait a few minutes for the sound bite, speech or appearance while a mom changes a diaper, bandages a boo-boo or looks over a beautiful picture. These are the things that unite us as women.

Governor Palin, while raising a beautiful family, has been called upon by God to use her great skills and talents to benefit not just the community in which she lives but the entire nation. This is a woman who when facing the diagnosis of a Down’s Syndrome child chose life and love and did not consider the criticism that might come her way from the radical feminists who worship at the abortion altar and believe any child that is not physically perfect is not worth having.

Governor Palin is a true feminist that the women of this country can be proud of, that we can point out to our daughters and say you can serve in office or run a corporation or work out of your home and still make your family and it’s values a priority. You can have a career and serve God, do His work and remain a feminine, charming woman. You do not need to compromise.