Anniversary!

I've been thinking about our upcoming 18th anniversary alot lately............in this world and at this time it really is a rare thing to find a couple that has stayed married to their first love for 18 years. It is a sad thing to think about all the many broken marriages of today.........it wasn't God's plan for a marriage to be broken. Coming from a broken marriage as a child, I know firsthand how difficult this is growing up. Not knowing where you "fit" in a blended family is a hard thing to face as a child.

When people ask how long I've been married and I say "18 yrs", they are surprisingly shocked. To me, there isn't any reason for shock.........but then I realized that I have been married for exactly half my life now! How amazing these years have been and how fast they have gone.......

I am so very thankful for my husband! He is my rock! God knew exactly the man I needed to help me through this amazing life......... I pray for him daily as he leads our family and I think this helps me to stay focused on how I can help him each day. God has blessed our marriage and I pray we have many many more years together........

I am also very thankful for his parents and the love they have for each other! They demonstrate the unending love that a marriage should have. The unconditional love that a strong marriage is built on. They have been such an awesome example for me as I have strived for that kind of love and marriage.

I'm not saying our marriage is always rosy.........we have our differences, but in the end we love each other sooo much! He knows when and how to always get a smile out of me.......he knows right away if I've had a bad day, he always takes care of me, he loves me..........

I know, I know.....quit all the mushy stuff, right!!?? Well, I guess to those of you that know us well, you know that Jeremy and I were made for each other!! LOL!! We are goofy kids at heart........and I hope we always will be!!!!!!!!!

School's Out!!!

YES, I am still alive and breathing!!! LOL!! I haven't blogged since I started school........never ever imagined myself as a full-time wife, mother, teacher AND full-time college student all at the same time!! But I did survive the first semester and did rather well if I may say so myself. :) I ended with three A's and a C (teacher did not allow me to turn in an assignment after due date while I was in Tx for a funeral) OH WELL!!! I am not one to take grades lightly so this really bummed me out for awhile but I am now at the point where I can say "oh well......I did my best". I now have one month to "rest" before I start my next semester in June. And wouldn't you know, it starts right in the middle of our vacation to Tx!! Too funny!!

How is the C25K going? Well, it is going very slowly.......with school and a trip to TX, I have really gotten behind. I am on w4d1........and going tonight!! I have also had some trouble with my hip hurting after I run.........so hopefully I can take it slow and avoid any further pain there.

Our house hunt was put on "hold" for now.........need to pay off van before going forward. Yes, it is a BIG bummer for us but I am trying to put it in God's hands. We are currently renting a very small house that we hardly fit in at all. I'm not saying that I need a huge house just one that we can fit in comfortably. One that we can all sit in the same room together would be nice. One that we can sit around the dinner table together each night. These simple things are things that I miss since moving into a small house. You would think a smaller house would bring a family closer together but since we don't all fit in the same room we can't really have open family conversations anymore. Two boys are off in one room and one is always outside and then, well, you get the point : never all together!! This is a daily thing for me......owning our own house has been a HUGE dream for us for a very long time and it is sooooo hard to wait! I just want to be able to have those memories with the boys before they are gone off on their own. I know it's pretty selfish but it is a dream of mine.......

Summer Plans........we are taking a vacation to Texas (sounds funny to say that, after living there for so long!!) then the boys are staying in Tx an additional two weeks with Memaw and Papa! They are sooo excited - to say the least! J and I will have two weeks with no boys.......we will have a very strangely quiet home!!! Then we have church camp to New Mexico......Memaw and Papa are coming to stay the week with Damon......he is one excited grandboy to have them all to himself for a week!!!!!!

Well, that's all for now! Hopefully It won't be so long in between blog posts again!!! LOL!!!!

C25K

YES!! A dear friend has encouraged me and challenged me to get back on track!! Her blog and facebook are amazing and I am so very proud of her for taking the first steps toward a healthy lifestyle!!!! Soooooo......... C25K here I come!!! (maybe I can even get J to join me??) :)

I haven't been feeling great lately and working out at the gym always makes me feel really good, sooooo...........I need to just make up my mind that I am worth taking a little time out just for me and DO IT!!!! :) I know, most people wouldn't be so excited about heading to a gym but, I absolutely LOVE it!! I always have, ever since I can remember working out in volleyball class in Middle School! It gives me such a great feeling of accomplishment for myself. It also gives me a time to put all of my life's activities and busyness in focus. I always feel rejuvenated and ready to face life's battles after a good, long workout at the gym!!

My first step is to go to the nearest (and cheapest $10/mnth!!) gym that we like and sign up!!

Then I am going to follow my nifty c25k app that I have already downloaded! I like it when I have something that will tell me exactly what to do!! LOL!! AND it lets me play my music w it at the same time!! Bonus!!!! :)

So here goes!! I'll keep u posted on how the next 9 wks go :)

2012 Family Theme

Our family theme for 2011 was "Faith"! This was very evident as our faith was being grown and proven through the many events of last year!! We continually relied solely on God for soo much throughout the year - from jobs to relationships to moving to housing to ministry to schooling and even down to our very basic needs!!!! God's provision and faithfulness is so very evident in our 2011 year!! God is soooo good!!!! I can't seem to get that saying of thankfulness off my mind!!!

So recently, I was asked by my boys what our family "theme" would be for this year?? That in itself floored me that they thought so highly of our "Faith" theme of 2011!! We really did try to express to them at every turn how God was leading and we were His followers..........and that He would provide even when we didn't have all the answers! And boy did He ever provide!!!!! Our faith has grown in immeasurable ways that I am sooo very thankful for!!!!! So after much discussion about a family "theme" for 2012............we came up with "Believe"!!!! We believe God has great things planned for this year! Things that ONLY can be said it is from God!!!!!! Unexplainable, unbelievable and wonderful things are going to happen this year!!!! We can see God working ALL around us and it is soooo exciting!!!!!!

Fun on The Run!!?

Fun on The Run = Lots of CRAZY Fun!!!!!! We started out at an outdoor ice skating park, near our house, which was amazing!!!!!! And then we went to a glow in the dark putt-putt golf!!! We finally ended the night at Buckaroos ( indoor ropes obstacle course, mechanical bull riding and gyrosphere!) This is also where Dylan works!!!! We did ALL of this in a four hour period of time!!!!!!???? Soooo fun!!!

It is such a blessing to be able to watch and be a part of our boys making amazing friendships!! God has blessed us with great Christian friends!!!!!!!!!

Christmas in CO!

An overview of our first Christmas in Colorado!!!!!

Beautiful trees in our front yard!!

The boys thought this made the car look like a hatchback!! LOL!!

Where Oh Where Did Our Sidewalk Go?????

Getting in some Wii time!!!

Our amazing Christmas Sugar Cookies!

Reading the Christmas Story from his ipad

All he wanted was brakes............he was soooo excited to get a "mountain bike"!!!!!!

He couldn't wait to get it out on the trails!!!!

Dakota figuring out his SodaStream!!! He has made some really interesting and good drinks for us!!!

Damon is the DJ :)

Just getting home from a great Christmas church service....

Such great looking boys!! I am sooooo blessed!!!

Our theme for this year is "FAITH" and it was carried through into our Christmas time as well. We received soooooo many blessings from friends, family and most importantly from God!! We had to go through many holiday changes this year, but at every turn there was a blessing awaiting us!!!!!!!!! We definitely had a very Merry Christmas and can't wait to see what God has in store for us in 2012!!!!!!!

What a Blessing!!

Our teens at Belmar Baptist Church took on a HUGE project this Christmas! They ALL pulled together and gave of their own money, bought toys, wrapped gifts and gave of themselves and their time to be a HUGE blessing to over 50 single moms............this is over 100 kids!! These children had a good Christmas because of the willingness of our teens. They were not only a blessing to these very appreciative moms, but also to several of our church families (me included!) as they came and saw how our teens had organized and accomplished such a huge project!!!! I walked into this room and saw this:

How AMAZING is this!!!??? More toys and games than most toy stores even have......... I stood in the doorway and just cried............feeling sooo amazed and humbled at how our teens had given of themselves in such a huge way! I am soooooo extremely proud to be a part of a youth group with such heart for others!!!! The many, many children and families that would now be able to have a Merry Christmas!!