Nautical Red White & Blue

I'm joining the girls over at The Blended Blog for a little style perspective and good ol' Americana today. Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays and I just love all the patriotism and red, white, and blue. Last year, I shared a little Fourth of July inspiration and even now, I plan to hang some banners and bunting, and decorate the front door. Amy Hannon posted a picture on her IG story of her flower pots beside her front door. She stuck tiny American flags in the pots and they looked so good! This is not her picture, but you get the idea.

So let's move on and talk about Americana style. As in fashion. As in red, white, and blue. As in Let Freedom Ring (Now I'm going to be singing that Martina McBride song for the rest of the day)! 

If I were a fashion blogger, my niche would be office fashion because I work in a strict, professional work environment and I have nuns to answer to. So today I'm sharing red, white, and blue fashion for the office.

I love this dress from ModCloth.  Even my short waisted self might be able to pull this off. It's perfect for a patriotic soiree during summer. Just look at that bow! 

Now this? THIS is ME! This is my style. This is the kind of stuff I wear to the office. This look is professional and what I like to call "nun worthy." Even the cardigan! I have to wear sweaters in the office year round because it's always freezing in our building. My little electric heater runs all day in my office. I'm not quite sure about the heels, though. My days of stilettos are long gone for this Mama!

Polka dots are forever my jam. Another cardi and another great look for the the office! I'm not sure if those are pixie pants, but I would for sure wear this blouse with red pixie pants! 

I love this simple, casual look that would be perfect for a Friday in the office with no meetings. Love, love, love the scalloped edges of the skirt. Although I honestly can't remember the last time I wore a shirt or blouse tucked. 

A younger version of myself coulda pulled this style off in a heart beat. Look at those leopard shades, too! The ruffles are to die for! Such southern belle style. The only change I would make is a red belt instead of what is that? Orange?

Let Freedom Ring, Friends! Let the white doves sing! 

Teenage Girl Bedroom Inspo

While Alise is away at beach camp this week, Wayne is having fun painting her room.

I have to admit, I think I'm going to miss the pink walls. Why? Because they remind me of the little girl she was when we bought our house and decorated her room the first time. She had just turned five, loved Taylor Swift, and cheering. Pink and black polka dots and zebra prints were the little girls' rage at that time. Changing her paint color is just another sign of my Baby Girl growing up. 

Here she is standing in front of her nearly painted pink walls.

I'm definitely taking before and after pictures - and you can catch some of the process on my IG stories - but today I thought I would share a little teenage bedroom motifs with you. I took all of these pics from Alise's "Re-do Bedroom" Pinterest board.

So Alise is definitely in to the blush and gray color schemes. It was her decision to paint her walls gray and we have found a few blush comforters and pillows with gold lettering that she lies. However...Baby Girl wants to get a new bed and prefers the tufted head boards. I waited a while before I approached Wayne with the subject, because when we originally agreed to re do her bedroom, I had assured him that we weren't buying any new furniture. Ahem. I've asked him into looking to see if we could make her head board ourselves and just move her current bed upstairs. He just looked at me. So....

We are also planning to buy a vanity for her room, complete with the lights around the mirror and lots of drawers for makeup, but that will probably be her Christmas present. The child is obsessed with makeup right now and I cringe every time I think about all the money I've let her spend on the latest palettes and brushes.

So that wraps up this edition of "Project: Re Do Alise's room" - at least for the inspiration part. I'm pretty certain that it will be a while before her bedroom is officially finished.

Thanks for reading today! And thank you so much for all your kind comments on yesterday's post. Please continue to remember us in your prayers.

The Day Wayne Almost Died

I hate the title of this post.

But it's the truth.

Tuesday, June 5th, 2018, will forever be stamped in my memory. 

On that day, around 3:30 that afternoon, I almost lost my husband. My best friend. The love of my life. 

I honestly don't know where to begin. I'm free writing this post and letting my thoughts flow. Thank you for the freedom.

That Tuesday morning was like any other. Wayne had gotten up at 2:00 AM to drive the daily thirty-five miles to his UPS hub, pick up a package car, and drive to Jackson, Mississippi, to unload the UPS airplane, and bring the packages back to his hub. At the time, I didn't know that he woke up with a severe headache and a dull ache in his arm. By the time he got to Jackson, his chest was beginning to hurt, but he ignored it and went about his morning.

I woke up on Tuesday at 6:00. I got a shower, had my daily quiet time, and took my time that morning getting dressed for work. I read some blogs, listened to Lisa Whittle's 5 Minute Podcast and a little of Chatologie. I remember thinking that I was so glad school was over and that I could have my leisurely mornings while Alise snoozed until noon. I left for work around 7:40 and made it to the office shortly after 8:00. My day had "officially" begun.

Wayne always calls me around 9:00 and he did that morning. He told me that he was going to be on yet another route that day and probably wouldn't get off work until around 4:00 that afternoon. He never told me how bad he was feeling or that he had a tightness in his chest. Later, he would tell me it was because he didn't want me to worry.

At noon, my co-workers and I went to lunch at a local restaurant to say "good-bye" to another friend and co-worker. I was back at the office around 1:30 and called Wayne. He didn't answer. At 2:00, I remembered that I hadn't talked to him and called again. This time, he answered. His voice was a hoarse whisper, and this is what he said to me, "Baby, it's not looking too good. I'm in the back of an ambulance." 

I honestly thought he was lying. Really. He likes to "kid" with me all the time and so I said, "No you're not. You're lying." 

"No, Baby. I'm in an ambulance. I'll talk to you later."

"WAIT! What hospital are they taking you to?? Tell them to take you to St. Blah Blah! Nowhere else but St. Blah Blah."

Click. I never heard another word from him. 

I didn't know if my husband was dead or alive.

I grabbed my purse, my phone, and closed my office door. My co-worker's door beside me was closed, but I didn't care. I began to cry and hyperventilate. I opened her door and all I could say was, "Wayne is in the back of an ambulance. He's headed here. I've got to go." Meredith walked me to the elevator in our building. I couldn't even remember how to get to the ER (my office is separate from the hospital). When I told her this, she ran back to her office, grabbed her keys, and walked with me to the ER. We checked in with the receptionist, but of course, Wayne wasn't there yet. We waited in the waiting room for a few minutes and then eventually, we made it outside to where the ambulances pull up to the ER. Meredith was talking, constantly, but I didn't hear a word until she said, "Laura, we've got to pray about this." I began to cry again. I can't begin to tell you how much Meredith's prayer meant to me. I just felt a peace come over me. I stopped crying and we stood for thirty minutes in the over 90 degree heat waiting for the ambulance. I texted friends. 

And then. I saw the ambulance lights. I heard the loud sirens. The ambulance exited off the interstate and pulled into the ER drive. I felt like this was all a dream. My heart fell as I saw the paramedic moving in slow motion to open the back doors of the ambulance.  I wanted to scream, "Hurry up, asshole!"

And then. I nearly fell to my knees. Right there in the ER drive. Meredith had to hold me up. They wheeled my husband out of the back of the ambulance. I wished with all my heart that it wasn't him. That is was somebody else. That this was all some very, very bad dream. But it was him. He was strapped to a gurney with black belts, writhing in pain, and acting as if he couldn't breathe. The paramedics were not moving fast enough for me and I remember saying, "Hurry! Hurry! You've got to hurry!"

They wheeled him into the ER. At this point, Meredith left me. I was all alone in the ER and Wayne was throwing things like his belt and watch and phone and diad pocket and sweaty UPS shirt at me. The oh-for-the-love-of-God paramedics met the oh-for-the-love-of-God admitting nurse and I wanted to scream. She asked his name, age, and all the other important stuff and then I was so absolutely relieved when she said, "ER room 5." Finally, they decided to run to room 5 and I ran after them. Nurses were already there waiting on Wayne. I sunk into a chair in the corner and cried. A nurse came over to me and said, "He's going to be okay. We're going to take good care of him." I couldn't stop crying. It was like a scene from the TV show, ER. Wayne was inconsolable, but he managed to look over at me and mouthed, "I love you." He couldn't get comfortable. He writhed back and forth in the bed and kept saying, "I have pressure. It's like an elephant sitting on my chest. I can't breathe." Nurses were running. IVs, injections, blood work, EKGs. One nurse had the audacity to say, "Sir, you're hyperventilating. You need to get your breathing under control." At that, I got pissed and I let my "clout" kick in. I asked who the ER physician was on call for the day. It was Dr. C, who is an exceptional physician and I said, "I want him in here, NOW." Dr. C arrived shortly after and punched on Wayne's chest area. Literally, punched. Wayne nearly came off the table. His first instinct was that Wayne had "sprained" something in his chest. Wayne said, "Doc, I'm telling you, this is not a sprain. I have an elephant sitting on my chest." Dr. C ordered blood work, which I would learn later was our only saving grace. 

EKGs came back normal. More injections of meds. Finally, blood work results. Wayne's cardiac enzymes were at .07. Dr. C said patients with heart attacks are at a 2 or 3. He agreed to call Wayne's cardiologist. More waiting. Wayne's bosses showed up and later my friends and I joked that the only way all the UPS men got back to us was because they looked so cute in their uniforms.  Only two people at a time were suppose to be in our ER area, but we ended up with like seven people. My friend, Jennifer showed up and stayed with me for a while.  More waiting. I went home to get clothes because Dr. C said that he was keeping us over night, while a friend stayed with Wayne in the ER. I cried all the way home, prayed, and managed to pull myself together for Alise who was waiting on me at the house. I told her what had happened and she went into meltdown mode. She helped me pack and I headed back to the hospital. 

We finally got into a private room at 9:30 that night. We had a wonderful nurse who "snuck" Wayne a very plain turkey sandwich. His cardiologist showed up at nearly 10:00 and told us that his last blood test showed his cardiac enzymes had increased to .22. He ordered an ultrasound the next morning and a stress test. Wayne and I tried to sleep. He was still in so much pain, but he was calmer. At 6:30 the next morning, the ultrasound tech showed up, did the ultrasound and another blood test was ordered. Thirty minutes later, our nurse told us that Dr. N (our cardiologist) had ordered a heart cath and that since we were an "add on" it would be around noon before we had the procedure. I am assuming Wayne's ultrasound and blood work expedited the procedure because Wayne was in the Cath Lab by 9:00 that morning and I was in the waiting room surrounded by my friends and co-workers. 

Dr. N came to talk to me before the procedure in the waiting room. He said that he no longer wanted to do the stress test because, "he wouldn't make it through it. Your husband has had a heart attack. His cardiac enzymes are at 2.20. I want to do a heart cath and if I see any blockage, I can stent him in the lab. Worst case scenario, he has to have open heart surgery, but I don't foresee that happening. His EKGs are normal, which means there is no damage to the heart muscle. I'll keep you posted." And he was off. I was in shock. All I heard was "heart attack" and "surgery." 

The procedure was over in thirty minutes. Wayne had 98% blockage in his LAD artery of the heart and had to have a stent. He also had narrowing in his other artieries, but it wasn't significant enough for more stents. We spent two nights in the hospital with the best care. Wayne jokes that my name badge may have had something to do with that. 

So many people have said that we were "lucky," but Wayne and I both know that it is by the grace of God that he is still alive. Someone said, "It just wasn't his time. God wasn't ready for him yet" and I have literally been on my knees thanking God for giving me more time with my love. 

Last week, Wayne and I had to attend a wake that was near the place where he had his heart attack, so we pulled over because I wanted to get a picture. I know that sounds morbid and I don't know why I wanted a picture, but I just did. As I was getting out of the truck, Wayne said, "Look! There's a rainbow!" And sure enough, I saw the faint colors of what I always refer to as, "God's promise." We needed that. We needed that reassurance that God's got us. We are in the palm of His hand. And I can't think of a single place I'd rather be.

Friday Favorites ~ Post Heart Attack

Hello, Friday and hello, Friends! Thanks for joining me today for Friday Favorites!

How was your week? Ours was nice and slow. Lots of breakfast dates with my love, and swimming with my favorite teenager. Here are some more favorites of the week!

one || I'll be sharing Wayne's story about his recent heart attack on Monday, so be sure to check back, but I just have to say that my world just wouldn't be complete without this man in it. Words can't begin to describe the emotions and the heartache of seeing someone you dearly love going through so much pain and not knowing whether there would be a positive outcome. So thank you so much to all my blog readers that reached out to let me know you were praying for us. There were people that I didn't even know that read my blog or follow  me on Instagram stories and yet they sent emails and messages letting me know that they were praying for us. Thank you all so very much.

Earlier this week, Wayne and I were outside enjoying an evening by the pool when he picked up the skimmer and began cleaning the pool. I had to remind him that he was suppose to be "resting" and not "working." He just can't be still and it's driving us both a little crazy. Our sweet neighbors mowed our yard for us this week and we were so grateful for that. So, anyway, while we were outside, I snapped this picture of us. It's the first picture of us together post heart attack and one that I will always treasure. I had to coax him in to smiling. Wayne is still weak and moves nowhere NEAR the speed that he or even I am use to, but we'll get there. Together.

two || Well, I can mark one off my summer bucket list items off the list! Last Saturday, Wayne and I visited our local farmer's market to get some summer time veggies! Some friends had brought us tomatoes and lima beans (already shelled! Yes! Thank you!) a few days after we got home from the hospital, so Wayne and Alise decided they wanted a "veggie meal." So we bought fresh sweet corn, okra, potatoes, and blueberries (for dessert!) to go with what we already had. And I must say that I did a pretty good job! I even made some cornbread! The whole meal was delicious. 

                                 

three || So I kinda forgot about my June shopping freeze and hit up the dollar aisle  at Target. It wasn't on purpose, though, I promise. I simply forgot and you're probably wondering, "Well, what were you doing at Target?" It's a long story, but Wayne had to meet someone in the parking lot and I had some returns and so that's how I ended up in the store. But y'all, they had the cutest 4th of July stuff!! I only spent $9, so I'm giving myself some grace on the shopping freeze. Hopefully next week I'll be able to show you my 4th of July decor. I just love red, white, and blue. So proud to be an American.

four|| Did y'all see this on social media this week? I absolutly LOVED the fact that this high school pitcher went and hugged his best friend after striking him out and thus winning the game for his own team. All that before he even celebrated with his teammates. Some Mama is doing something right! 

five || Y'all! I've lost eleven pounds in two months! I'm loving my fat pills!! I had a follow up appointment yesterday with my physician and I was so excited that it sounded like I was "singing" the announcement on my IG story yesterday, but I swear I wasn't. I WAS very happy, though, and so was my doctor! She did the happy dance when I told her the news and how GREAT I'm feeling. I have so much more energy, less moodiness, and better sleep. I got another prescription for the last ten pounds and I have another follow up visit at the end of summer. I wore a pair of pants yesterday that I haven't been able to wear in quite a while! I'm still walking; still drinking water, and my eating habits are so much better. Things are great when it comes to my dieting.

If you're looking for a good book for summer, I had just the thing on the blog this week! Two posts about books. I shared my books of summer and what I read during the month of May. I was really hoping to get some reading in this weekend on my new pool raft (bought in June) but it looks like it's going to be raining the entire weekend. Boo! There's no stopping my reading inside, though, right?

Y'all have a wonderful weekend and since it's National Flip Flop day, I hope you dance in yours this weekend!

Show Us Your Books ~ June 2018

May was a horrible reading month! I stopped and started and stopped again. Absolutely nothing held my interest and the books I did manage to finish were only sub-par. I'm oh-so hoping to get my reading mojo back this summer. I better because I've set myself a goal of 1,500 pages! And these are the books that I'm planning on accomplishing the goal with. 

By the way, a few weeks ago, I ran into a friend of mine that I've known since kindergarten and haven't seen in years! We follow one another on Goodreads and we immediately started talking about books - after "how are your kids?" of course! Brittany was in the same shape I was...struggling. Ugh!

Beneath A Scarlet Sky || I made it through a third of the book and gave up. I tried, but the novel was too sloooowwww for me. I follow a book club on Facebook and those readers raved about this book, but unfortunately for me, it just wasn't. 

The Weekenders || My only saving grace for the month! I was happy to see that some of my blog friends also read this book in May and there was a census that we liked it but it wasn't anything spectacular. I encouraged my friends not to give up on MKA because she is one of my favorite summer authors. Still looking forward to reading her latest summer novel, The High Tide Club.

Lie To Me || This book reminded me of Gone Girl. The first half of the book was from the husband's point of view and the last half was the wife's. I honestly didn't know "who did it" and I think that's the only reason I kept reading. It's a book about secrets, lies, and betrayal with twists, but I only rated it three stars. There are much better books in Book Land with the same themes. 

Sorority || Nope. Didn't finish. The college life and mean girls just don't interest this mid-forty Mama anymore.

Be sure to drop by Steph and Jana's blogs today to see what all the other bookworms have read this month.  I sure hope May was a lot kinder to them in the reading department.