A time of Mourning and Celebration

As I sit here and write this email I am torn between two emotions. They are mourning and rejoicing. I have been introduced to 3 very special children. All three are special needs. Two of them have been diagnosed with Trisomy 18 (Eliot and Claire) and the 3rd (Ella) was born with some neurological problems due to having contracted menengitis (sp?) before she was born. I have followed the blogs of all 3 for a while now. Ella was born to some friends of ours from our church in Dallas. The other 2 I was introduced to through her family. As I checked in with each of the blogs today I was heart broken to learn that little Eliot has been called back home to Heaven. His parents are strong and to be commeneded for the work they have done. They have asked that people not be sad but to rejoice that he is now home and is whole again.

Here is my understanding of Trisomy 18. There is a 3 chromosome that grows on the 18th chromosome, hence the name of the disorder. Most children with Trisomy 18 do not make it birth, they usually die in the womb. Those who are born usually do not live for more than just a couple of days. On the rare occasion some of them almost make it or make it to their first birthday before they pass. In the little bit of research I have done only a small handfull (a little over 10 have actually lived to be teenagers).

I ask that if you get a chance please take the time to look at the blogs of these three special children. I know that you will be blessed by them and their parents the way that I have.
Eliot: http://mattandginny.blogspot.com/
Claire: http://clairecox.blogspot.com/
Ella: http://themitchells1016.blogspot.com/

Have a wonderful day and please remember to tell your family and friends how much you love them. This is a reminder of how fragil life really is. Sean and I love ya`ll. We are very blessed to have each and every one of you in our lives!



(The settings for the blog have been changed. You no longer have to be a blogger to post a response.)

7 Weeks!!!

Today is 7 weeks to graduation. Sean and I are in the process of trying to find a home in the Nashville, TN area. We are hoping to have a home to move into by the time we drive home for Thanksgiving. As for our weekend plans, Sean is working most of the weekend and I will be working on one of the portfolios I have due at the end of this semester. I hope ya`ll have a wonderful weekend!

Congratulations Tara, Wedding and Reunion update

I want to start this off by saying CONGRATULATIONS to Tara for passing her Dental Assisting Boards today!!! Sean and I are so proud of you!!! As soon as we are home for good in December we will go out and celbrate!
Well last weekend was crazy for us. We ended up spending 30+ hours in the car. Our trip started out well. By the time we hit Nashville, the weather was awful. The upside of this is that we got to spend about 45 mins looking at the Batman building (the Amsouth Building) which means that we knew we were home. My mother made it into town inspite of her car acting up. Sean and I spent the night with some great friends of ours. I finally got to see their little boy. He is so cute and full of personality.
Friday morning my mother and I left to drive back to Ozark. We were a little later getting there than what we wanted, but still plenty of time before the meet and greet and the football game. The meet and greet was good. There were not as many people from our class there as I thought there would be. I did get to meet the fiance of a good friend of mine. They will be getting married the day after I graduate from SWBTS. I guess the football team wanted to help us relive our football game memories from high school that night b/c they lost. Carroll did not have a great team when we were there. I decided to sleep in the next morning instead of going to the class picnic. That afternoon my mother and I went to the mall and I got to do some browsing and shopping in one of my favorite stores (BAMA FEVER).
That night Sean drove in and we went to the reunion dinner. I was amazed at how little somethings have changed in the past 10 years. Many people there have not changed their life styles one bit. There were others who have changed a great deal for the better. I was voted the least changed. At first I was not sure if I should be honored or insulted, but in the end I was Ok. The votes were based on looks, so in that respect I was good. I guess I still pretty much look like I did the day we graduated. It was great to see some old friends again. I loved getting to meet boyfriend, fiances and spouses. It will be interesting to see what everyone is up to when we meet for our 20th in 2016.
Sean said that the wedding Saturday morning was sweet. He hated that I couldnt be there. He said that once Robb and Stacy were pronounced husband and wife that they walked back down the isle to the Sesame Street theme song. The happy couple was spending the night in Cookville, TN at a bed and breakfast and then they were headed off to Ashville, NC for the rest of the week.
The trip home was good. Sean and I decided to take a small detour at the Boardwalk in Shreveport, LA. We stopped to do a little bit of shopping and dinner. We did not make it back to our place until after 11:30p Sun night. We stayed up until almost 1a working on my group presentation for the next morning. I got up early Mon and then met the rest of my group around 10:30a and we gave our presentation at noon. I think it went well. We recieved some good feedback from some of our class mates. Sean and I both had to work that day. Needless to say when we got home Monday night we ate dinner and crashed.
As soon as I get my film developed I will post pictures from the weekend. I hope that yall have a wonderful week!

8 Weeks, a Reunion and a Wedding Oh My!

Well, there is a great deal of activity going on in the Hughes household. Sean and I have been running like chickens with our heads cut off this week trying to get things ready for the wedding, the reunion and my huge class presentation this coming Mon. I normally post on Friday mornings but we are headed back to the promised land! On the countdown note, Firday will be 8 WEEKS to graduation!!! Tomorrow (10/19) Sean and I will be headed to Nashville, TN. We will eat dinner with Sean`s folks and then spend the night with some good friends of ours. Friday morning my mother and I will be headed back to Ozark so that I can participate in my 10 year reunion for Carroll High School (c/o 96). Sean will be staying in Nashville so that he can participate in wedding activities for his old roommate (CONGRATS ROBB and STACY!!!!). Their wedding is Saturday morning. After the wedding Sean will be headed south to go to the reunion dinner and dance with me. Then on Sunday morning we will head back to TX :-( I will get up Monday morning and do a group presentation on Asian Americans (culture and counseling). Sean and I are excited to get to see some you this weekend. Those of you we dont see, hopefully we will see you at Thanksgiving, if not then, we`ll see you at Christmas!!! God Bless and have a wonderful weekend!

9 Weeks and the State Fair

Today is 9 weeks to graduation!!! December 15th is coming slowly but surely.

Last night Sean and I went to the TX state fair and had a great time. This was Sean`s first year and my 2nd. We ate in true fair style in a meal of Corney Dog`s and Dr.Pepper. We spent most of the evening in the auto show buildings looking at cars we could never really own and looking at cars we could afford down the road. We walked through some of the exhibits and then took a romantic ride on the giant farris wheel.

Tomorrow night Sean and I will be headed to see RENT the musical as a part of my birthday celebration.

Have a great weekend!

Conratulations to Sean!

Sean got an email yesterday asking him to teach a class at the Twist and Shout Convention coming up the first part of next year in Franklin, TN. This convention is where balloon twisters from all over country come to learn new things and to catch up with old friends. Sean has wanted to teach for several years and is excited to be a part of the faculty for this convention. He will be teaching the 4 Pillars class (the 4 pillars are what every twister should know and remember when performing) as well as a sales class (how to market yourself as a twister).

10 Weeks and a Birthday!

Today is 10 weeks to graduation! I have spent most of this week working on papers due next week. I have also been counting down to my birthday celebration. This weekend Sean a handful of friends and I will be headed to P.F Chang`s in downtown Fort Worth to celebrate my birthday! Sean also spilled the beans about one of my presents. Next weekend he is taking me to see the musical RENT!!! Sean has stayed busy this week with work as well a putting together a video for his former roommate`s wedding that is coming up in a couple of weeks.