Help Advocate For Cystic Fibrosis Research

You may remember my friend Emily (pictured above with me at the Great Strides walk last year), who I have mentioned before in my blog. You may also remember that she lives with Cystic Fibrosis. Well, you and anyone you know can help to advocate for continued CF research. Here's what the CF website says...

"Cystic Fibrosis Caucus Co-Chairs Representative Edward Markey (D-MA) and Cliff Stearns (R-FL) will soon introduce a bill to help more people with CF participate in clinical trials.

Right now, because of eligibility rules regarding compensation for clinical trial participation, many people with CF are forced to choose between taking part in important clinical trials and keeping their health care coverage.

To help promising drugs move swiftly from the research and testing phase to the people who need them, more people with cystic fibrosis are needed to participate in clinical trials. This important legislation will remove that barrier to allow more people to participate in clinical trials."

By going to this website , you can fill in your information and add a message to a pre-written letter which will be sent to your Congressman. The letter urges the Congressman to take action and to support the new measures that are coming up in Congress which relate to CF research. By taking just a few minutes and filling in your information and pressing "send", you are being a voice for CF and a voice that is saying that clinical trials for CF and other diseases need to be more easy to participate in. It will only take a few minutes, and by being a voice you may help to enable research to be done more easily and in the long run, you may help to save people's lives.

So please, just take a minute and do this. They're so close to a cure for CF. If you go to Nate's blog, you can read his view on this legislation and read his wife's story about living with CF. There are people all around the world who are waiting for a cure, and it's so close to coming. They just need to test the medicines...

So, please help!

-Jenn

Our Story - Part 4...(From Jenn's Point of View)

It's been a while since I posted a part of our story... So here goes part four...

So I barely slept that night. I was so excited that I was engaged to the man of my dreams! But the next morning when I woke up, it hit me - I was engaged and I was going to be getting married soon!

So of course the normal comments started coming when I told people that we were engaged. We got a variety of comments. Of course there were the normal "congratulations. let me see the ring" and the "when's the date?". But then there were the "wow! that was fast." comments too. But once people started asking, we responded with "Well, we're not sure yet. Ideally we'd like to get married this August (2008) but realistically it might not be until May of 2009." You may wonder why this was our response. Well, it was like this. I still had another year of school left and we weren't sure if our parents would want us to get married that coming summer or that we'd be financially ready to get married that summer. But, we decided to think and pray about a date. Then we'd ask our parents if the date was ok and we'd be ready.

So, we thought and prayed about it and picked a date. We were gonna aim for August 9, 2008. That was only 9 months from when we got engaged. There would be a lot of work and planning to do, but we figured it was definitely doable. We also figured that we'd be financially ready to get married that summer, and that there wasn't much of a point to waiting a whole nother year. So, we asked our parents about the date. His parents said yeah, but we better start planning. My parents said yes as well, as long as we were sure that we could plan it all and afford to live on our own by then. We assured them that we were and set our date - August 9, 2008. That would be the day that we would become Mr. and Mrs.

Of course there was a lot of planning to be done and a lot of decisions to be made. I knew that I wanted to be married in the church that I had grown up in, so that quickly settled the decision of what city we would be married in (Josh and I lived two hours apart). But there were plenty of other decisions to be made - bridal party, a reception location, a photographer, flowers, transportation, and the list goes on.... It would be a busy, but well worthwhile, nine months ahead of us. During these nine months we'd have the chance to grow closer to each other and learn to love each other even more as we planned our wedding...

-Jenn

You're Gonna Miss This...

You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast
These Are Some Good Times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this

... I already do miss it...

(p.s. my best friend and roommate for four years is graduating college tomorrow and moving back to VT, 10 hours away... i'm gonna miss her - in case you didn't understand this post.)

Not Me Monday

Welcome to another addition of Not Me Monday, a blog carnival created by Mckmama. It's here where we can share all the crazy and fun things that we did not do this past week. Ready for my confessions?!? Here we go...

Last week was not my last week of classes in my undergraduate life. I was not happy to have my last class either and am surely not excited about only having student teaching left before I graduate. That's why I did not post this not me two weeks in a row.

Josh and I didn't start going to the gym together last week. We definitely didn't finally decide at the end of last month that it's time for us to join the gym and attempt to get in shape (well me attempt at getting it shape, he'll actually do it). I also didn't think I was gonna die after the workout because I haven't worked out in so long - not me.

Josh and I also didn't get to spend this past weekend at my parents house. We didn't get to spend the weekend with my family and also didn't get to spend mother's day with my mom, sister, and our family. We also didn't get to see our niece and nephew, two of the cutest kids in the world. It definitely wasn't a great weekend or anything!

Speaking of mothers, I definitely haven't been blessed with a wonderful mother and a great mother-in-law. God hasn't given me two great examples of mom's in my own life to look up to when one day I'm a mother myself. I'm also not truly greatful for them, not me.

This morning I definitely wasn't rushing out the door to school and realizing it was cold, grab a sweatshirt out of the dryer and throw it on. After sitting at school and taking an exam, I didn't get up to see a pair of my underwear on the floor that static had stuck to my sweatshirt. I also didn't, at that moment, look around to make sure that no one had seen my "item of clothing". Not me.

Also, this isn't my first blog post since my last not me Monday. I would never have an entire week between blogs. That's so not me, so why would I ever do it? I guess I didn't - not me!

I guess that's all for this week. If you want to read more "Not Me Monday" posts and find out what everyone else "hasn't" done, then head over to MckMama's blog to read more!

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

This past week has contained a lot of not me moments, things that I definitely did not do and that definitely did not happen.

This past week was most certainly not my last full week of classes as an undergraduate. I most definitely won't be student teaching in just three months and won't be a college graduate in seven months. Nope, not me.

I definitely didn't get to spend a long weekend with my husband this past weekend. We didn't get to be together all day Friday, most of the day Saturday, and all day Sunday. We also didn't get to go out together several times during the weekend and just spend quality time together. Not me.

During this past weekend with my wonderful husband, I didn't get to see "Bedtime Stories". I also didn't think that it was a hilarious movie and I didn't watch it twice in two days because I enjoyed it so much. I also definitely wouldn't recommend it to everyone of all ages because it was clean and just that funny. Definitely not me.

I'm also not sitting in my living room looking around and realizing that I still have things out from Easter which was almost a month ago. I would never leave Easter things out that long. I would most certainly put them away within a few days after the holiday. I don't still have them out; not me.

This past weekend (between spending time with my husband) I most certainly didn't get to go out on a girls' night with three of my friends. During this girls' night we didn't go shopping at the mall and to dinner at the Olive Garden. The waiter at the Olive Garden also definitely didn't make fun of me (in a nice kind of way) the entire time we were there for butchering the pronunciation of "gnocci". I would most certainly say that word right, especially since I speak well in all languages. I didn't get busted on for butchering it, not me.

I also didn't sleep in this morning way past when I should have. After all, there are plenty of things to do around the house.

I'm also not sitting here writing this not me post when those things are still waiting to be done. I would most certainly get all the needed things done before sitting down to blog. I would never be on the computer when other things should be getting done. Not me!

So what have you "not done" this week? Join in the fun and confess the things that didn't happen to you during the past week. It's a lot of fun!

-Jenn

A Settled Dispute

A Soldier, a Sailor, an Airman and a Marine got into an argument one night about which service was the best (go figure, right?). The arguing became so heated that none of the four servicemen saw the truck that was barreling down the road towards them. The driver failed to see them, and all four of them were killed instantly.

Soon, the servicemen found themselves at the Pearly Gates of Heaven. There they met with Saint Peter, and, figuring that he would be a good source of Ultimate Truth and Total Honesty, asked of Peter: "Saint Peter, which branch of the United States Armed Forces is the best?" Saint Peter replied, "I can't answer that. However I will ask God what he thinks the next time I see Him. Meanwhile, thank you for your service on Earth, and welcome to Heaven."

Some time later, the four servicemen see Saint Peter and remind him of the question they had asked him when first entering Heaven. The men asked Saint Peter if he was able to find the answer. Suddenly, a sparkling white dove lands on Peter's shoulder. In the dove's beak is a note glistening with golden dust. Saint Peter says, "Gentlemen, here is your answer from The Boss. Let's see what He has to say." Peter opens the note, and trumpets blare, golden dust drifts in the air, harps play crescendos, and Saint Peter reads the note aloud to the Servicemen:

MEMORANDUM
FROM: The Almighty One
TO: Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines
SUBJ: Which Military Service Is The Best

1. Gentlemen, all branches of the United States Armed Forces are honorable and noble. Each serves America well, and with distinction. Being a Serviceman in the United States Military represents a special calling, which warrants special respect, tribute, and dedication.

2. Be proud of that!

Semper Fidelis,
God, USMC (retired)

(Taken from Sgt Grit's weekly newsletter)

-Josh