Loretta Lynn Day Trip

our church did not hold regular services today.  instead, groups were sent out to work on various community service projects.  we were not involved in a project so we took a day trip with olivia to loretta lynn's home and ranch.

this is not something that ole and i normally would have done on our own.  we like country music fine but are by no means die-hard fans. we did however, thoroughly enjoy ourselves  and we have a new appreciation for loretta lynn!!!!

olivia on the other hand is a die-hard country music fan.  she is actually a fan of all things radio, television, and movies.  it seems to me that because her life (up to this point anyway) has been somewhat dissappointing, she has lost much of it through the before mentioned avenues. 

i hope that in the very near future she will realize that her life is a very worthy life.  in fact, it is a life that God sent His Son to die for.  i have no doubt that olivia is a believer.  she does have a long way to go in realizing her worth to Christ and to society as a whole.

keep praying for her!!!!! just as much as we want to see her succeed satan wants to see her fail...  

my daughter logan and i are huge flea marketers.  we took olivia to our wonderful nashville flea market today.  she seemed to enjoy it very much.  logan and i can shop any venue for hours, hours, hours.  it is such a time consuming activity for us that my daughter, avery refuses to go with us.  olivia has been shopping with us at other times and we can tell that she tends to be a fast shopper. the kind that goes into a store to get a specific item and then leave.  we are trying to increase our speed as we shop but at the same time teach her the wonderful art of browsing and enjoying the experience of shopping.  i am not sure it is working...

without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. - Heb 11:6.   i know that olivia is seeking and i have faith that God will reward her.

true to her word, olivia came home from work today and took a nap!  i asked her if she could tell after working 1 week in the office if she thought she would like the job of a dental assistant.  she said that she could already tell that she was going to love it.

our current dental assistant went to school for her training.  she has been wonderful with olivia this week.  she is keeping her by her side and teaching her everything she knows.  she brought her used text books for olivia to read and study on her own.  the first thing she did after her nap was begin reading her dental assistant books.  she was so excited to get them!  i am not pushing olivia.  i want to be very patient with her but she is pushing herself.

olivia is a movie buff.  tonight we all sat down and watched "frankenstein". ( the 1974 spoof with gene wilder).  it was fun to hear her laugh.  she is doing very well.  however, i feel i have lost brain cells due to watching such a ridiculously stupid movie.

because olivia is unsure of herself i notice that she often copies other people.  i know that at some point she will discover herself and not feel the need to do that.  however, until then, she has a wonderful group of people to immitate.  our employees have been fantastic with olivia.  they have taken her under their wings and treated her just like one of them.  i know they had to have been unsure when we told them that she was going to be joining us but they never acted like it.  thank you guys!!! olivia is fortunate to have all of you helping her.

olivia passed her CPR class. and "thank you", logan for taking her and spending that time with her.

i know that the goal is not to exhaust olivia, but between all of the doctor appointments she has had and the early hours and busy work week - she is very exhausted.  she is already talking about the naps she is planning on taking this weekend!  she has not complained though...

as she is getting more comfortable with her surroundings she is talking more freely - even laughing and joking.  she said that her recovery class was great tonight. she doesn't elaborate on that but i know she is working through her books and and came out with a smile again tonight.

i definitely feel the prayers of everyone.  please don't stop!!!  your prayers ultimately should be for olivia but the stronger my family is the better olivia will be so continue to pray for us also. God is good!

Working Girl!!!

olivia showed the same eagerness to learn today as she did yesterday!  she is like a sponge soaking it all in.

she also had a doctor's appointment.  he prescribed a medication called lamictal.  it is not an antidepressant but rather a mood stabilizer.  i made sure that she didn't feel like medication was something that i nor the doctor was pushing on her.   she made it clear that depression is something that she has battled all of her life and she welcomes something that will give her some relief.  she also knows that this is only a tool and that the hard work of building her life is still up to her.

the good thing about this medication is that it is not a strong medicine in either direction.  it will not sedate her nor revv her up. there are few side effects.  the number one issue with this drug is a possible rash.  we will pray against that!

i will let you all know how her cpr class goes tonite.      

when olivia arrived i said that i was not surprised because others had given me some information about her and i had a general idea of what to expect.  but today, i was very surprised.  i was surprised at her assertiveness and desire to jump right in and learn.  i was surprised by how quickly she picked up on things and how sharp and observant she was on her first official day of training at the office.

during her lunch break she sat in the lounge and talked to the other employees. (they have been wonderful to embrace her.)  she seemed to love the chance to talk and connect with others.

we had a busy day so she had very little down time but when she did have some quiet moments she worked in her recovery workbooks.

tomorrow evening she is taking a CPR training course.   whisper a prayer for her.  she seems a little anxious!   

i didn't post last night simply because by the time i felt like sitting down to do so i also felt like going to sleep so i just went to bed instead.

olivia called her daughters yesterday.  i was a little afraid that the emotions of speaking to them would overtake her and she would have a setback.  however, that did not happen.  she said that she had a very good talk with them and that they are very glad that she is here.

we had a wonderful service at church today.   it was wonderful to share that time olivia, just as it is wonderful to worship with my immediate family each sunday.  it is always a precious time.  having olivia with us today was such a beautiful reminder that we all come from different backgrounds, walks of life, denominations, etc yet all that matters is that we share the same love that God has for us.  i am sure that olivia felt that love all around her today and most importantly from her heavenly Father.

she will begin  training full time tomorrow as a dental assistant.  keep her in your prayers.  there are so many aspects to her becoming a healthly, whole person and this training is only a part of that.    

another good day! we started off by cleaning the house and doing laundry.  olivia has been a gracious house guest and has kept her room spotless.

we went to a yoga class this morning.  among so many other things, i am hoping that yoga will help olivia want to take care of her body rather than abuse it.  i am also hoping that she will become comfortable with her body and herself as a whole.

my daughter logan is an artist and crafter.  she helped olivia scrap book a picture of herself at the country music hall of fame.  she has several more pictures to scrap book and she has worked maticulously on her latch hook rug.  everyone needs to feel that they can complete and be proud of even the  smallest project!

she wrote her daughters letters and mailed them today and is looking very forward to calling them tomorrow.  her daughters can count on hearing from her each weekend!

logan said today, "i feel like she is already a part of our family but has only been here for such a short time."  that's a God thing for sure! 

ole (my husband) is astonished at how much of my mom he sees in olivia.  he sees the same mannerism more than actual physical resemblance.  i see it too.   she looks exactly like her mother (aunt brenda).  i wasn't around aunt brenda much in her later years, but i remember as a young child thinking how pretty she was.  olivia is pretty also.  i can see by her demeanor that she does not think so.  i realize that ultimately it is the heart that needs healing and that is of utmost importance.  however,  we are physical beings as well as spiritual.  we can take care of olivia's physical needs but i am so glad that we have a MOST HIGH GOD that can take care of her heart.  as her heart heals i hope to see her demeanor and outward appearance change with it!

she told the therapist that if she could change one thing about herself it would be to have better "people skills".  how does one go about helping someone gain better people skills?!   i honestly don't know.  i know that in order to have better skills at anything it takes practice, practice, practice.  so i suppose by being exposed to people over, and over, and over everyday -the skills should come.

we went to the office today. olivia watched educational videos about all kinds of dental proceedures - everything from fillings to implants.  i think she enjoyed it.  we also went through some basics around the office.  when we left she said , "i think i can do it."  i said, "i KNOW you can!" i assured her that she needs to be patient with herself and not try to rush things.

during any free time today she has worked hard in the workbooks from the recovery program that she began last night.  i honestly can't think of anything that olivia could be doing differently. she seems to be committing and giving this her very all.       

      

i sat in today on olivia's evaluation.  it was helpful for me to hear her responses to all of the questions. one question and answer in particular stood out to me.  the therapist asked her to name one thing that she liked about herself.  she responded that she could not think of anything that she liked.  this broke my heart to hear.  i hope that answer will be different one day.

the therapist said that he would say olivia has a "generalized depressive mood disorder". basically bipolar with 99.99% depression and .01% mania.  she will see a doctor through the same office in a couple of weeks and see what medication is recommened.  she will see the therapist weekly for therapy. she seemed to feel good about the appointment.

my daughter avery is a hair stylist and asked olivia if there was anything she would like to change about her hair.  olivia said that she would like it darker and straight. (olivia has very curly hair). so after the evaluation we went to the salon. avery colored her hair and put a straightener on it.  she absolutely loves it! her hair is silky, smooth and sleek.  thank you avery! 

this evening was her first class of celebrate recovery at our church.  she went alone and came out with a spring in her step and a smile on her face.  i think she was very encouraged.

thank you logan for working so hard at the office without me this week.  i know it has been tough to go it alone.  your reward will be great! thank you ole for giving me the week off to tend to olivia.

after olivia's taxing dental appointment yesterday, i wanted to treat her to something special. she is a huge country music fan (especially old country) so the obvious choice was a visit to the country music hall of fame.  she seemed to genuinely enjoy herself and voiced her appreciation several times to me for taking her. 

we took pictures and will be mailing a few to her daughters.  some of you may not be aware that olivia had a daughter when she was 16 years old and another one at 20.  although her relationship with them is different than mine and my daughters, i know that she loves them very much and wants to stay connected to them.  she is looking forward to calling them this weekend.

tomorrow is a big day.  she has an appointment with a doctor for a mental health evaluation.  i have already done my own personal evaluation.  we will see how it matches up to the real experts!

first of all, i must say that it breaks my heart to see a person that has less than zero confidence.  olivia's confidence is off the charts in the negative zone.  that having been said, we have had a wonderful day.

i am taking this week off from work to get olivia to various appointments.  today started with a visit to the dentist to have her teeth cleaned and any needed dental work completed.  she had 10 cavities that we are referring to as her dr. pepper cavities.  the cavities were around the gum line of her anterior teeth. others probably had not noticed since she rarely smiles.   ole said that they were a definite result of all the soda.

she was a trooper but in alot of discomfort and even pain for the rest of the day.  she said that she has learned her lesson and would not be drinking anymore dr. peppers! it was a good reminder to her that the body doesn't want to be abused - there will be consequences.

her next appointment was to the eye doctor.  she is far sighted and needs reading glasses. she is already amazed at the difference they are making. 

last but not least,  she went to yoga with me.  i was so proud fo her!

we ended the day by both telling each other that it had been a good day...   

i have to start by sharing that i went to a yoga retreat this weekend.  myself, logan and avery (my daughers) all went. we had an absolutely wonderfully, sweet time.  i love so much about yoga.  our instructor is a Godly lady who leads our meditation with scripture.  one scripture passage that we meditated on this weekend was matthew 11:30.  it clearly states that Christ's "yoke is easy and His burden is light."  it reminded me that if anything is of God, it will not be a heavy burden for us to bear.  He will bear the burden if there is one. 

my mom met us at the retreat center with olivia.  logan and avery drove seperately so it gave olivia and i some time alone to get acquainted.   my mom and olivia's sister (lea) had described oliva to me since i personally had never spent any time with her.  they must have done a wonderful job because olivia was exactly as i had expected.  this was especially nice since i don't do well with surprises!!!!

when we came home, avery and i helped her unpacked her suitcases and get settled into her room.

i had informed olivia on our drive home from the retreat that i don't really cook.  i think she was afraid that she might starve to death at my house.  i could see the concern so we took off to the grocery store after unpacking.  i wanted to let her pick out some things especially for her to eat.  once we got to the hamburger helper isle and she said she liked those, we really started connecting. 

next stop was joannes. no one can live in my home without being a frequent shopper at joannes.  she picked out a latch hook rug.  we came home and got right to work!  it was a beautiful day so we sat outside in the gazebo.  i crocheted while she worked on her latch hook.

we ordered pizza, went for a walk and started some R & R.  she settled into her room and i finally got some time to talk to my hubby!  if he is on his very best behavior he might just get a foot rub when i finish my blog tonight.    

Welcome

I will be posting here each day after Olivia arrives.  I will post the events, the progress, of each day.  Stay tuned!