Last day in 2007

I can't believe how fast the time has gone by....I feel like we just said goodbye to 2006 and now here we are at the end of 2007. What a year. So much has happened this year that has changed my life. I can honestly say that things will never be the same.

We're having my parents, brother, Molly, my mother-in-law, and the Hancock family over for games tonight and snacks. I'm really excited to spend time with people that love to laugh. I'll be sure to post on that in the next days.

2008 is going to be a brand new year with many more changes. Have a great New Year's Eve!

2007 Family Christmas

I hope that you guys had a great Christmas! We had a wonderful one. We spent the weekend with my parents in Manchester and I got to see Heather and her family, which was great. They cooked a huge breakfast for us and I got to see her baby neice, that looks just like her brother. We had our traditional family Christmas dinner with Ma, Mama, and Mom's side of the family. It's always fun to get together with them...it's never boring, I can honestly say!

We went to our Christmas Eve service at church, which was wonderful. There's just something about taking the Lord's Supper before Christmas...it just reminds you that Christmas isn't all about presents...it's about Jesus and his birth and all that He's done and will continue to do for us. I love our church and all of the wonderful people and mentors that are there.

Mom, Dad, and John came up on Christmas Eve and we invited Raun's parents over to eat dinner. We made a Thai stir-fry, complete with egg rolls. It was really good and filling. To top it off, we had dessert of caramel popcorn, cheesecake, and gingerbread men. We played games well into the night and we learned that Mom would make it well in Vegas.

It was great to wake up with my family still here. It made it more fun to have other people here, instead of just me and Raun. We made a big breakfast and then opened presents. John did the honor of reading the Christmas story this year, which is always enjoyable. And yes, we even watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation...a yearly tradition.

Raun and I left to go in the afternoon to go spend Christmas dinner with Raun's family. It was great to see everyone and to play the family games. I realized that I'm not so good at games when I'm tired, though. I have a very small window of opportunity after 7:00 p.m. We got to see all of the nephews and our neice, which was fun because they liked to make fun of their great-grandma's....until we reminded them that they are going to be like that one day! They are so much fun to be with!

I think New Year's will be spent at our house and we're going to have our New Year's Eve party here. Everyon's supposed to be coming back and I think that we're going to meet my parents in Atlanta on Saturday to spend the day shopping and visiting. I also have to see John's new television, since we haven't seen it yet! Happy New Year!

8 days until Christmas!

I can't believe that it's only 8 days left until Christmas. I'm still not ready. Maybe it will be better this week....we'll see! We had our Christmas concert at church yesterday and it was wonderful. My parents and Raun's mom both came with us. It's meant so much to me that they came. Dad even stepped foot in the mall afterwards and we got some Christmas shopping done. It was just like the old days....but we missed John. Dad even treated us to our favorite place...Baskin Robbins. They have a new Heath bar Shake now and it was very good.

Our Christmas destination has been decided. Mom, Dad, and John are having it at our house for Christmas Eve and Christmas and possibly even New Year's Eve and New Year's. I'm very excited about that! I love having my family here with us. I get to cook some new and even healthy recipes....it's gonna be great!

I absolutely love my job. As I mentioned in the post earlier, I am teaching children with special needs, as well as typical kids, through the School of Music at our church. I love it! After our concert, one of my piano boys (with Down Syndrome) came up to me and gave me a hug and a kiss! He's 6 1/2 and had battled a rare form of leukemia. He reminds me so much of Shannon because he is a fighter as well. He had chemo until he was 2 years old. He's now in remission, and they're just hoping it doesn't come back. He's so precious and smart. He loved my bassoon and told me he wanted to learn to play "Jingle Bells!" So we shall learn that for him. His grandpa is a classical pianist and is thrilled that he and his grandson can share this love of music together. I am so thankful that I have a job where I can make a difference in people's lives and where I can help what seems like the impossible become possible!

If you would like to check out my work website, feel free! It's http://www.musictherapynetworkoftn.com/.

Happy Christmas shopping!

Ahhhh!!!!

It was definitely a rough day today. One of my boys punched his therapist in the nose and broke it. I really and honestly hope that he gets transfered to jail because he would be someone that would both reoffend and hurt others. He has absolutely no remorse for what he's done but the system thinks that he is too MR to stand trial. He so knows what he did and he also knows the difference between right and wrong. He also knows that he can get away with it in the system. How are you supposed to work with them if they are constantly endangering myself and others? I love working with my boys and girls, but at times it's so hard to remember why we do what we do and why we constantly keep going back after being disrespected so much.

John called me during my lunch break just to talk and I told him to make sure to pray for me this afternoon because I just knew it was going to be bad. Sure enough, during my last session the principal came in and told me that one of their case managers (who is in her 20's, early 30's and is sweet) died today after a kidney problem. She had had surgery and it was okay and was sent home, but was admitted to ICU today and died around noon. The case managers and therapists were standing outside the school doors to talk with each of them after the news was told to the boys. I just pray that this helps them to change. We actually talked about our dreams during our session and it was neat to show them that many dreams can be attained if they really want it.

My little boy with autism regressed a little today. Hopefully he will have a wonderful week next week. He did say 4 colors for the first time, so it wasn't a bad session!

It's been almost two weeks since Shannon passed away and let me just say that it has been the longest 2 weeks ever. I am not really feeling in the Christmas spirit. I thought that if our Christmas tree was up then I would feel in the spirit....but it only serves to remind me why I'm celebrating (which is good) and that Shannon should be here to enjoy this holiday and to make a Christmas list. I think I'm slowly coming out of the denial stage and am waking up to reality. I don't like reality, so I may choose to stay in denial a little while longer! I see her in all my kids....I'm now working with special needs children and teaching them piano and guitar lessons at church and there's a girl who always looks like Shannon from the back....so I like to look at her!

Anyway, that's life in a nutshell over the past week.....

This is Shannon's favorite team of all time! Raun and I got to take her to the Vandy vs. Florida game (she made fun of Raun the entire time!) for her birthday. Isn't she so beautiful? I miss her....

Thanks for the support

Our family greatly appreciates the support that has been offered to us through this time of Shannon leaving us. It was definitely a Thanksgiving that I will never forget. I miss her so incredibly much and it's hard to talk about her without crying. The night time is worse because I am able to think. I like the daylight because I can stay so busy that I can pretend everything is normal, even though it is not.

Here's the newspaper clipping about Shannon:
O'CONNOR, Shannon Lee, age 17, of Manchester, Tennessee, entered into Eternal Rest on Wednes-day, November 21, 2007 at the Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville. She was born on February 27, 1990 in Nashville, Tennessee and was a student at the Coffee County Central High School in Manchester. Shannon was a loving daughter, granddaughter and special friend to so many people. She enjoyed horses, all kinds of pets, but her family, friends and Vanderbilt foot-ball were especially impor-tant to her. She was a member of the New Union Baptist Church in Manches-ter. Shannon is survived by her parents, Ray and Patricia O'Connor of Manchester; maternal grandpar-ents, Bob and Betty Nettles of Manchester; paternal grandparents, John and Ruby O'Connor of Titusville, Florida; sisters, Bethany and Anna O'Connor of Man-chester; brother, David O'Connor of Manchester; aunts and uncles, John and Debbie O'Connor of Manchester; Janet and Doug Baker of LaPlace, Louisiana; Lee and Laura Nettles of Manchester; cousins, John O'Connor of Atlanta, Georgia; Megan and Raun Taylor of Ooltewah, Tennessee; Ashley and Josh Brumfeld of New Orleans, Louisiana; Amber Baker of Shreveport. Louisiana; Jakes Nettles, Ashley Nettles, Emily Nettles, Clint Pica and Holly Fowler, all of Manchester; and a host of friends and loved ones. The Family received friends at the Visitation on Friday evening, November 23, 2007 from 5 - 8:00 P.M. at the Central Funeral Home in Manchester, Tennessee. The Funeral service was conducted on Saturday afternoon, November 24, 2007 at 1:00 P.M. from the Chapel of Central Funeral Home with her grandfather, Bob Nettles Pastor Mike Owen and Brother Randy Robertson officiating. Burial followed at the Welker Cemetery in the New Union Community. CENTRAL FUNERAL HOME of Manchester in Charge of Arrangements. http://www.centralfuneralhome.com/

On a positive note, I was not able to see my little boy with autism the week I went to conference or last week because I felt I needed to go get the kids from Manchester. When I saw him yesterday, his mom told me that he wouldn't let her sing the entire time I was gone because he missed me. He hadn't been responding to many people while I was away and when I came back he had started to respond. She was so amazed at how music therapy works when nothing else seems to do so.

We're thinking about going to visit John this weekend in Atlanta. I am really wanting some good food and to see his new television! Our kids choir is singing this Sunday for the Hanging of the Green which begins Advent. We have a rehearsal Saturday, as well as the one tonight. It will be wonderful and I'm very excited!

Prayer Requests: Please pray for our entire family through this holiday season. It's definitely going to be tough because I just don't feel in the mood to celebrate this year. Pray for Aunt Patricia and Uncle Ray as they are constantly reminded of what is no longer there. Pray for us to remember she's in safe hands and pray for us to be able to use Shannon's story and legacy to make a difference in so many people's lives.

She's in heaven.....

My dearest cousin entered heaven the day before Thanksgiving. It was an extremely hard thing to see, but I am very glad that I was able to be there to tell her that I love her so very much. For anyone needing arrangement information, the visitation is tomorrow from 5-8, and the funeral is Saturday at 1 at Central Funeral Home. Thanks for the prayers and all.

Prayer for Shannon...

Please pray for my cousin and best friend, Shannon, as well as her family. She's in ICU and not doing so well. My heart has been broken and I'm not for sure how to deal with all of this. Please pray for a miracle....a wonderful, powerful, beautiful miracle. Please pray for strength and for love. Pray for peace and for God to wrap His ever-loving arms around us and hold us, especially Shannon. Pray for us to place this in God's hand and to know that it's God's will. Pray for acceptance and guidance...

Before I leave for conference....

These are the views from our house. The leaves were so breathtakingly beautiful this week, that I had to snap lots of pictures. I'm heading to Louisville, KY to learn the latest on music therapy. I'm very excited to hear the newest advancements and to hear where we stand in the medical field now. Pray for me in my travels!

I don't have my Mom's gardening thumb....

These are the pictures of my very own rose bush. It was planted this spring and I am very happy with how it has flourished. I think I may add a few more rose bushes. They are very hardy, I'm learning. I absolutely love gardening. I used to hate it when I was growing up because I hated to weed the flower bed, but now it's so much fun. Raun makes fun of me and says that I make flower beds only where the grass is growing....but I can't help it!

Our first freeze of the year!

So, we've finally hit our first freeze. It's been really cold in the morning, but not too bad during the day. It's struggled to get out of the low 60's, but I think it's supposed to warm up again soon. We've actually had the heater on at night...and the electric blanket! I love the cold weather!

My choir is singing for the first time on Sunday morning for both services. I'm a little nervous. They sang wonderful for the Pumpkin Patch, but there's gonna be lots more people on Sunday. I was so proud of my boy from Sudan...he sang both songs for the first time last night! I smiled the entire time and tried to make it look like I was wasn't looking at him so he'd keep singing. I love working with them. It's definitely a challenge, but it's fun.

We've hit the time of year where we're going to be incredibly busy. I love this time of year, since it's my favorite, but I miss my time that I get to spend at home. This weekend, my roommates from college are coming here and we're going to have our girl's weekend. We usually go on a big trip, but because of circumstances, we're going to do our big trip in the spring. I'm so excited. I have been blessed to still be such wonderful friends with them. I think we're going shopping, cooking some healthy meals, and of course, making coffee!

Then, on Tuesday, I leave for Louisville to attend the Music Therapy conference. I'm going with another college friend and staying with her family there. This will be a weird conference for both of us because this is the first time we haven't had to fly somewhere. I can actually bring back lots of instruments...which is good because I'm gonna have to! I love conferences because it is a great encouragement to continue what we're doing, as well as keeping us up-to-date on the newest practices and research. It's so great to be with so many music therapists from around the world. One year, I'll attend the music therapy conference in another country!

I return from conference on next Sunday....only to unpack, wash clothes, and catch up on all the work I missed. Then, it's repacking and heading to Atlanta on Wednesday to pick up my brother and head on to Florida for my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. It'll be lots of fun, but definitely weird! It'll be our first Thanksgiving away from Tennessee in a long time. And we're not actually cooking the dinner....which yes, has it's benefits! No turkey sandwiches for weeks! I'm excited to see everyone, but I just know it's going to fly by. But when we return home, we're having our turkey Thanksgiving with Raun's family...so I guess I'm not completely home free from turkey sandwiches! But it's a good thing that I love turkey and mustard sandwiches!

That ends November and the next weekend is our kid's choir rehearsal for the Hanging of the Green and the beginning of Advent. I love this service. I'm thinking of using the West African drums during this service. It'll be so neat, if we can pull it off!

Following that, we're going to Dollywood and staying in Gatlinburg with one of our friends and their baby. We love hanging out with them because we have so much in common. I'm really excited to see the Christmas lights in Dollywood and to see all of the beautiful shows. There's nothing like being in the mountains at Christmas time. I absolutely love it! Well, there's nothing like being in the mountains period.

Then right before Christmas is our choir performance at church, which is awesome! They fill out the rest of the orchestra with strings and whatever other instruments we don't have playing already. I love playing for this. The choir is so beautiful and it's one of my favorite services.

That brings us to Christmas and who knows what else is to come during that week! I'll stay posted with pictures and all for sure.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! I absolutely love Halloween for one simple reason....it's the mark for the cooler weather, hot drinks, changing leaves, and my 2 favorite holidays are right around the corner.

Papa, we took Dad to your favorite place to eat today! He liked it. And in your honor, I had gingerbread and Dad had the ice cream! I thought about posting a picture of it so it would be an incentive to come back to stay with us again!

I was working in the office today and noticed that Ellie was missing. When I went to check on her, I found her in the pumpkin pulling out pieces of candy. Lollipops appear to be her favorite, because she's drug out 3 in the past 15 minutes!

I've decided...

So......thanks to my best friend, Heather, and of course Raun and my family, I've decided to go back to school. I'm going for my master's in music therapy. I had been putting it off because I wouldn't be able to get it unless we moved. However, they just sent out a paper a few weeks ago offering MT classes with an emphasis in whatever field of study (i.e. autism, medical, mental health, etc.). It's at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, GA. It is the same college that Aunt Maxine got her master's at. They have an excellent music therapy program and best of all...it's ONLINE! I get to have in-state tuition, which is great and only have to go there one weekend every semester and one week out of the summer for my intensive training days. I'm thrilled to start! I probably won't start until the summer because life here is hectic, but I'm very excited. My emphasis will be in the medical/mental health field, since God is apparently wanting me to work with these type of clients/patients.

I love my work! My boys at the psych hospital created a band today and I taught them the bass, electric, drums, and keyboard. By the end of the session, they played "Lean on Me" fairly well! And only one fight almost broke out! We're improving! But what a thrill to work with them. The staff that was with me today (I call them my body guards) was actually in school to be a music ed teacher. I told him to feel free to help anytime! He said he would be there every Friday and he'd make sure he was with whatever group I had. And...I had a boy request classical music. I almost fell out of my chair. I usually only get Rap, R & B, or Country. I was excited to finally get to play some REAL music!

I'm looking forward to the weekend. We're having friends from church over to watch the Florida/Georgia game (Raun loves Florida and Walt loves Georgia). Jamie (my nutritionist friend) and I are going to be cooking our wonderful, famously healthy dinners. Raun laughs at me because his poor tummy can't handle lots of grease or heavy meats anymore. I'm proud....that means I'm doing my job! We're doing shrimp again, so Nessa...wish me better luck than when we cooked together! I'll let you know the verdict when it's done.

God is good!

What another great day! It rained most of today again, thank goodness. The grass is actually starting to recover from the brownish color it had become. Plants are actually looking green and some trees are FINALLY changing colors. Yes, it's late in changing colors, but it's been so dry, they just think it's still summer, I guess.

More updates on my little autistic boy. He had some changes in meds this past week, so he didn't do as well as last week. He still counted to 10 and said his A, B, C's, though. The best part...I was leaving and I told him "bye!" He waved at me and said, "bye, bye!" He has never told anyone that and we've been working so hard to get him to say those words. His mom looked at me and said "that has made my day!" It's those little steps that get me so excited about music therapy and the benefits. It's amazing how music therapy helps bring kids out of so much isolation and into a world that communicates! I love my work....have I said that before? I'm so blessed to be able to do what I love!!!!

A few fall leaves....

Monteagle Mountain
on our road

Our house view from the front yard
Suzzy and Ellie
Ellie
Monteagle Mountain
Monteagle Mountain

from our deck
from our deck
from our deck
from our front yard
from our front yard

It's raining!!! I think most people in Northern Georgia and Tennessee and praising the Lord! You don't hear one person complaining about the rain...and it's supposed to rain all week. All I've heard is "Thank goodness it's raining," or "I'm so glad it's raining!"

We went to Manchester this past weekend and got to see John. It was good to see everyone for a little while and to get some wonderful food. Dad's had another calf, so he was really happy about that. And John's loving his work. Mom's been working out and I'm so extremely proud of her for her endeavors!

Enjoy the pictures!!!

Prayer....

We FINALLY got some rain yesterday...Praise the Lord!!! It wasn't nearly enough, but it's a start. I feel like I'm living in the Old Testament 'cause I'm literally praying for rain....but oh, well! The leaves are starting to change just a little, so that's really pretty. I'll post some of pictures up soon, so Nanny and Papa can enjoy them!

Today's entry comes more in the form of a prayer request. Many of you know that Raun and I are leading the children's choir (4th and 5th graders) at our church. It is a lot of fun, but still a lot of hard work. We have a boy in there that is a refuge from Sudan. He's been in the U.S. about 2 years. He is so precious, but he's only 10 and has seen so much. A little of his background: he and his brothers and sisters traveled about 1200 miles or so on foot to Egypt to escape the wars in Sudan. He lost a twin brother on the journey. His dad (who was a pastor) was put into prison in Egypt. They haven't spoken to him since he was released. The dad apparently went back to Sudan when he thought it was safe so he could get the mom's sister to bring to the U.S. However, they think he might have been killed over there, since there had been so many threats on his life. He was telling my mentor all about this and she was trying to tell him that he needed to write a book, but he doesn't really know how to write in the English language. He said "I want to write a book....how do you do that?" Him and his siblings want to go back to Sudan to find their dad. The mom remarried about 1-2 years ago, but the step-father just left the mom, who is now having to work almost 24/7 to keep her family of 6 alive. So anyway, Raun is going to try to gain the boy's trust so that he might could help him in school and still acheiving those goals that his father so desperately told him that he could do. Please pray for us as we are put into this ministry so that we would know how to reach out to this boy. It's amazing where God puts us, but we definitely would love to help this boy see that Christ can help him. How wonderful it would be to see him become a Christian and give his entire life whole-heartedly to Christ!

Another prayer is for a boy in my mentor's daughter's class. He had apparently had difficulty controlling his bladder. The principal had come to talk to the class about bullying this little boy. He would go to the bathroom 5-6 times in his pants. It turns out that this boy had been so sexually abused that he couldn't help it. My heart broke for this boy. Please pray for God's protection and for removal from the person who is abusing him. Pray for the kids at school to see that you never know what another person is going through, so we shouldn't judge someone.

My heart just breaks over these two boys. I know that God has put some Christian people into both of the children's lives. I pray that they will be such a powerful testimony of God's love and faithfulness to them. Thank you for partnering with us to pray for this wonderful ministry God has called us to!

What a great day!!!

So...I had the greatest day! After a rough time with "the boys," I went to see my 2-year-old client with autism. He doesn't speak...at least he didn't. That's changed over this past month. Today, I couldn't hold back my tears of joy! He spelled his name to a song I made up and he said his name, his A, B, C's, as well as counted 1-4. Last week he counted 1-6. It was kinda sad, though, because his mom his still battling with an ear infection and couldn't hear too much of what he was saying. But she still had tears in her eyes when she saw his lips moving! It was a GREAT way to end the day. I love those music therapy moments. She said that I get more out of him than his PT, OT, and Speech Therapist! How exciting!!! Oh...and he even cleaned up the instruments, which is AWESOME because he normally has a hard time transitioning into things and following directions! What a sweetie! Just wanted to share my little music therapy moment that all music therapists strive for!

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