ETA: Hallelujah! I've been fighting Blogger all day to get this post up! First it would only publish half the post, so I put it in two different posts. Then only the first post would show up on the first page of my blog. I finally figured out my problem (Trying to shortcut when adding photos-I won't be doing that again!) and all is right in my world again.My apologies if you attempted to read my half-post earlier today.
Well, hello! It has been 3 months since I blogged-far, far too long to go without a post. Life just got really crazy there for a while-nothing bad, just lots of time consuming stuff. Lots of things have been happening, so I’ll just jump right into a recap of my life in 2012 so far this year. Excuse the long post to follow…
Daddy
Daddy has been doing well since the heart scare in January but we have a good news/bad news situation. Bad news-further testing showed that he contracted a virus sometime last year that has permanently damaged his heart and his heart was only operating at 25%. The doctors put him on a strict low sodium diet and medication for 3 months to see if this will help his heart function better. Mama has done an awesome job of researching low fat/low sodium versions of his favorite dishes, and they have both had a great attitude about the whole situation. Unfortunately, tests last week showed that his heart is still functioning at only 25%. I had a feeling that the test was going to show this because despite his lifestyle change and weight loss, Daddy still gets very tired very easily. Good news-he will get a pacemaker/defibrillator in the next couple of weeks. He has had a few friends tell him that this will make such a difference in his energy and how he feels, so we are hoping that this is going to help him.
School
School is school…crazy-busy but rewarding at the same time. This has to be the most stressful year for school people-new standards, new test, and all sorts of other new stuff coming down from the state. It can get absolutely overwhelming at times, but we are just doing the best we can and trying not to get too stressed out about everything. On a brighter note, when we get back to school on Monday, there will be 5 weeks of school left…yes, 5 weeks. Since we’ve had 10-15 snow days a year lately, the calendar was set this year to allow for plenty of make up days at the end…and we only ended up with one snow day this year. Murphy’s law, I guess. But that means that we will be out of school on May 11th-woo hoo!
Spiritual Life
I just attended the Women of Joy conference last weekend. It was a great weekend of prayer and worship with a great group of women. I’ll have to do a whole post on the weekend, but let me just say that if you have an opportunity to attend WOJ, you must absolutely go!
We are also continuing with our weekend small group bible study. This is such a great group of couples, and I am humbled to be a part of it. I have learned so much in the two years that we have been in the group. Right now, we are studying Revelations with a new, young pastor as our leader. I’ve always avoided Revelations (too depressing and scary!) but this study is absolutely fascinating. Brother C brings in the ties to the Old Testament, the Greek translations, and the Jewish culture to help us understand it. It has totally changed my understanding of Revelations.
We also eat really well on bible study nights too! : ) We always have a theme-Italian, Mexican, breakfast, country/Southern, etc. Tonight it’s appetizers and I am trying out some recipes I found on Pinterest:
Spring Break Activities
For
my SB week, I’ve kept myself quite busy. On Monday, I ventured to
Nashville with a friend. I had a hair appointment with my awesome Stacey
to get a cut and color that afternoon. We had to run an errand
downtown, then we headed to the newly opened Opry Mills! I’m so excited
that “my mall” is back from the terrible flood of 2010. I’ll have to
give Opry Mills its own post sometime soon because there’s too much to
talk about in one paragraph! After our shopping trip to
OM, we met up with my mom and SIL at the hair salon. Oh my, it was like
an episode of Steel Magnolias while we were all getting our hair done!
Girl talk, a little gossip and lots of laughter-such a good time!
Worked for a little while on Tuesday, then on Wednesday Mr. P and I took off for an overnight stay. We ended up here
Kentucky Lake
Our
goal was to not get on any interstates on our trip. We just love
driving country roads and going through the small towns and communities.
We would have made it except that we forgot about the bridge over
Kentucky Lake. A couple of months ago, a barge hit the bridge and it has
been closed for repairs ever since. After we got to the non-functioning
bridge, we consulted the map and had a choice between a 2 hour detour
on country roads, or a 30-45 minute detour on I-24. Since it was late
afternoon, we decided to get on the interstate. We took a different route
through Tennessee on our way home so we didn't have to get back on an interstate.
In
addition to trying to avoid interstates, we also wanted to avoid chain
restaurants for our meals. We hit a few fast food restaurants to take a
restroom break and get a drink, but our meals were all at small, family
owned restaurants. As a result, we had some wonderful meals!
Shopping Find
I’ve
done a little bit of shopping this spring, just needed to update a few
items in the old wardrobe. One of my favorite purchases has been this:
White Denim Jacket from Old Navy
I
have a blue denim jacket that I wear quite a bit in fall/spring, but
I’ve never had a white one. This cutie caught my eye when I was shopping
with the girls on our WOJ weekend. How have I gone this long without
it? It looks great with everything-jeans, khakis, dresses, etc. Just
last night, I did a late run to the store to avoid the crowds today. It
was a little cool out, so I grabbed the white jean jacket and paired it
with a cute scarf. It gave such a boost to the jeans/tee shirt combo
that I was wearing.
One More Thing…
Now
this is where I will get a little vague and I apologize in advance for
this. There are some possible big changes coming to the Putter household
and we have been very busy this spring with it. I wish I could say more
about this and hopefully I will be able to tell you soon, but for now
if you could keep us in your prayers I would really appreciate it.
Thank
you for sticking with me through this long, long post. I have truly
missed the blogging world. I had been behind on both reading and
posting, and I have enjoyed catching up on both this week. As I read
your blogs, it keeps me more in check and inspires me to keep pushing
along with everything that life throws at me. So I am pledging to be
better about taking some time for myself to read and post in this
wonderful blogging world.
Wishing everyone a beautiful and blessed Easter weekend!
TPP
