House Hunting...

A few months back, John and I embarked on the adventure of house hunting. At first, we would drive around looking at houses for sell and learning more about the different areas we would like to live. Now we have gotten more serious on our search, we have a wonderful realtor that John's friend recommended and have even talked to a builder. We are torn now on whether we want to build our house or buy one on the market. They both have pro's and con's like anything in life. I guess it's a matter of personal preference.

If you know me well, you probably know that when I was little my Dad and I would go out on Saturdays looking at houses. I love those memories and cherish them to this day! My dad could literally find a way into any empty house, whether it was through a door or open window, so we could look inside. This is when my love for house hunting began. I have literally thought about becoming a realtor more times than not. It's something I have such an interest in and truly enjoy. So never say never, I guess :) Now that John and I are looking for houses I think that already having some experience with my dad and him pointing things out to me about houses when we would go look has helped me for this next journey. So on that note, thanks Dad for the knowledge and love for houses that you passed down to me, I'm very grateful!

When I think of the possibility of having our own house it still seems so far fetched! I still can't believe I'm not 10 years old and I'm actually old enough to be looking for my very own house! It's exciting and I really see it as another BIG step in our journey as a married couple. Maybe I'm the only one who thinks it is crazy that I'm looking at a house to purchase, but I think it is a huge deal. I think that's a good thing though, I know how honored I will be to have a home and how much I will appreciate this next step! John and I combined our savings once we got married and have been very religious about setting out a certain amount every month to go into our "house fund." Luckily, we are almost there!!! When we do get a house we will know it is all of ours, we worked hard for it and gave up things and made sacrifices for it. I think that's when something in life has true meaning and value to you, when you have to work hard at achieving a goal and finally seeing all the hard work pay off. We didn't have help from anyone, we did this on our own and that's really the way it should be! We only eat out once or twice a week. We have a certain amount of "fun" money per month that we use on things we enjoy together, like going to the movies, etc. This plan has worked so well for us so far and I'm so blessed to have a husband who I'm on the same page with when it comes to finances because this is a big problem for a lot of couples.

Since our life and place we would be settling down has been in limbo for the past few months we have been afraid to get serious about house hunting until we knew where we would be living. Recently, a few things happened and it looks like we will be in Chattanooga for a while. It still could change but we think we will be here for a while. So this is our plan...and we are sticking to it...for now at least! :)

The more we look the more we realize what a long process this is. We will see one house and like several things about it and see another with other things we like. It's a shame you can't combine the best things of several different house to make the "perfect house." We have waited to buy one and we will wait some more to find the best one for us and I know when we find one it will be the one made for us! I'm excited to announce this next step in the Denniston Journey! The search for our dream home!

Drama Queens...

In this blog post I plan on being very honest and real. Quite frankly that's the only way I know how to be and if I offend anyone...sorry! Why have a blog if I have to sugar-coat things and walk on egg shells? I write this blog for myself, to get out things I feel and think about. So here it goes...

DRAMA QUEENS... We all know them. Maybe you are one or maybe your like me who work with some, have a few in the family, or have those friends that are. I have NEVER been a huge fan of drama. Even in high school when it was "cool" to start and create drama I steered clear. I have always been nice to everyone and friends with all kinds of people, that's just who I am. Sometimes this lead me to getting flack from others because I was friends with those who were "Uncool". Perhaps it also has to do with the way I was raised. My parents would never let me disrespected them or anyone else for that matter. My Mom always told me "Be nice to those who get picked on and who other people don't want to be friends with because if that was you, you would need a good friend," and the classic "Always treat others as you would want to be treated." These are the principles I grew up with that are now fried into my brain and make me who I am. However, now that I am an adult I realize there are tons of adults, even those who are a lot older than I am, who act younger and more immature than any child I have ever seen.

It is disappointing that so many I know and are around seem to live for the drama. I don't get their motivation behind it? I guess I really can't think like they do though, it seems so far fetched to me. Maybe it makes them feel better by being rude, mean, back stabbing, and putting others down to build themselves up??? I don't know. Maybe it's because some don't have anything else better to do with their time and they are bored? Who knows? All I know is I believe it is childish for adults to act this way. For me, I am too busy to think of being in drama, it really doesn't even cross my mind. I am lucky that I also married John who doesn't believe in drama, that way we are on the same page.

In the past few months I have seen drama first hand on too many occasions to the point that John and I have decided to remove ourselves from these situations. For certain reasons I will not get into any details on some of these but I do think it's a shame that even family will put you down, be disrespectful, and talk to our friends more than we ever hear from them and act like our friend hung the moon when they have no idea about that person. I just don't get the motivation behind being so rude. Or another family member who won't even see his own parents now that he's married much less let their grand daughter see them. I mean seriously? Grow up! The world is a cruel and harsh place so why also be this way to your relatives, we need to work on building each other up, no tearing one another down. We already get enough of that in the world we are living in.

I have also dealt with this at work. My co-workers are all older than me and have children but act so immature. I came from St. Thomas where I was used to my co-workers being family. We all got along and had each others backs. Well, little did I know I was up for a HUGE upset. On my unit now, all the nurses have it out for me (with the exception of like 2 or 3 people). Talk about a hostile environment to be in for 13 or more hours a day! I have no friends at work and really don't have anything in common with my co-workers. They are always in bad moods and always complaining. I can get along with anyone and it didn't bother me at first but after so long it starts to wear on me. I have had people at work put me down for no reason, always give me the hard assignments, I always have more patients than anyone else, talk behind my back, and try to find a reason to get me in trouble. I guess since I'm the new girl on the block who is young and positive and happy they decided to have it out for me since the day I started. It doesn't really matter to me, I go into work and do my job and take good care of my patients and try to ignore all the things they do or say. But I have come home on numerous occasions in tears. I have never had this issue in my life with anyone, let alone a whole unit of people. I guess the saying is true "nurses like to eat their own young." In all honesty, these people are probably unhappy with their own lives and then see me who is happy and enjoying life and they just can't stand it. It's not all women either, I know a few Drama Kings as well! There are certain doctors at work who I've seen yell at a nurse in the middle of the hallway where all the co-workers, patients, families, etc. can hear. The worst part is, usually the doctor is dead wrong and doesn't even know what is going on with their own patient. But if anything doesn't go according to their way they have to put someone else down who actually was doing the right thing. Heaven forbid they aren't right... that just doesn't happen, lol. So I never go into work looking forward to it and I never leave happy either. The ONLY reason I go back is for my patients! I love them so it makes it worth the awful environment.

So after dealing with a family member, a friend, these co-workers, and complete strangers acting rude and being the best Drama Queens they can possibly be, John and I decided it was time for a change and time for simplifying our lives. Basically, getting rid of all the negativity and people who didn't have any respect for us and couldn't treat us with the same kindness we tried to treat them with. After a while, it became hard to always be the nice guy. That act gets old! I don't hate anyone so I don't wish anything bad for these people, I just don't care to have these kind of people in my life. I think after a while of being the bigger person and taking the high road you eventually have the right to walk away and be done with those situations. It's really a shame that people have to be like that but all I know is what goes around comes around and these people will meet their match one day. John and I strive to be mature adults and to be nice to everyone around us, that's how Christ wants us to be. I will no longer let these people have any kind of effect on me. That's why we have cleaned up our friends on face book as well as those people in our lives. It is only fair. So we are happy to be starting a new chapter without any Drama Queens/Kings and it feels SO good! So here's to simplicity, maturity, and being kind to one everyone! Remember... if you act like a child, expect to be treated like one. If you are an adult, grow up and act like one or no one is going to take you seriously or want to be around you. If you back stab people to get on their nerves don't except them to want anything to do with you. It really does all go back to a simple lesson we all learned as children... "Treat others as you want to be treated." Come on adults, let's all grow up!

Catch-Up Post

Hello Blog World!

I am still here, just have been crazy busy since November really so I have gotten very far behind on my posts. I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday Season! John and I enjoyed ours, we spent 8 weeks in a row traveling so it was very busy but we really enjoyed it! We went to see John's family in Memphis the weekend before Christmas and got to spend Christmas Eve and the day after with my family this year, I had to work Christmas Day :( but we still enjoyed being with my family and made the most of our time with them! We have learned that we have to divide up the Holidays between our families since they are so far away from each other. Last year we learned our lesson. I worked Christmas Eve night because I was still on night shift, As soon as I got off we went to Memphis to see John's family for Christmas. The next day we went to Atlanta to see mine. So our whole Holiday was spent in the car and we were miserable and I was SO tired (I think I stayed up for 36 hours straight). So needless to say this year worked much better and I'm so glad we have it figured out! I just love Christmas and family time around the Holidays. I am truly reminded of how blessed I am to celebrate Jesus and spend time with people I love the most! John and I set a budget for each other on gifts and neither one of us stuck to the budget but when it's your first Christmas as a married couple I guess your allowed to spurge a little. :) John really spoils me rotten and I'm so blessed to have a husband that pays attention to detail. John will literally remember something I said I wanted a year ago that I completely forget about and low and behold he gets it for me. He puts a lot of thought behind the gifts he gives me which is even better to me than the actual gifts themselves. So needless to stay John and I had a wonderful first Christmas as a married couple!

New Years was spent in St. Louis where we ate at a wonderful restaurant on New Years Eve and went to see John's 49 ers play on New Years Day. The 49 ers won so it made the trip worth our while! St. Louis is a neat city, I have been there three times now and every time I go I learn more about the city and places to go. John also had a interview down in New Orleans the week before Christmas so we were down there Thursday and Friday before heading to Memphis from there, so a long weekend on the road! New Orleans was different.... never a place I have desired to go but I can now say I've been there. Parts of it were cool and neat to see (Cafe Du Monde was my Fav.) but I could never live there. It's like a different world and even the people seem like a different breed. But I'm glad I was able to go with John to keep him company! Luckily, if he gets that job it could be anywhere in the country!

EXCITING NEWS... We booked our vacation for our 1 year Anniversary last week! We are going to Antigua to an all-inclusive resort for a week! We wanted to do something big for it and might as well travel all we can before we have kids. Basically I've already started a countdown to June 6th and everyday look up and research different things about the place we are staying and the Island itself. It looks beautiful and we can't wait for a vacation! We love to travel if you can't tell since we spent all of November and December on the go. But I honestly hope this is the next trip we take, I'm ready to be at home for a while!

As John continues his job search, we have decided to just sign another 6 month lease in the condo we have been living in instead of moving into another condo or buy a house. I DREAD moving! So the thought of moving for just a few months doesn't seem worth our while. We are still waiting to see if he gets any offers, he has had several interviews lately so in the next few months we should hear back and have a better idea of where we will be long-term. If we stay in Chattanooga we want to buy a house, but that's a big decision if we aren't going to settle down here. So we are praying hard about it and we know God will lead us to where we need to be! If we do stay in Chattanooga, I will hopefully have some exciting news to announce in a few months but don't want to share it until I know where we will be for sure! It's hard to not feel settled right now but we are trying to just deal with it. We are really keeping our fingers crossed for Atlanta or Nashville (we love both places and hope to eventually end up settling down in one of these cities.) While we are young with no children though, we are open to lots of places, I think it would be fun to live somewhere out West for just a few years! It will all work out for the best and the way it's meant to be! John and I are not crazy about our jobs here so we are mainly hoping for better opportunities as far as our careers go, that's the most important aspect to us! Hope you all are doing well! Promise to update again soon!

-Allison