What a Year

Hello everyone. It's been quite a year here. Most of you know what's been going on so I don't need to go into it here. We had a pretty good Christmas though. My job surprised us with a Christmas bonus. We used that to build a toy box for Ryan. I'll try to get a picture up pretty soon. We've mostly been hanging out at home during the Holidays and trying to rest. We hope everyone will have a safe and happy New Years.

" We're Finally 'Home' "

Ok, so it's been a little over a month. We finally moved "home" the last week of August. I want to thank all of our wonderful friends for helping us move. We got most everything here in one day. (That's a record for us.) We're getting settled in now. There are still many boxes hiding out in the closets and storage area that we need to go through and unpack, but that will be a slow process. I finally gave up on holding on to my "skinny" clothes. It's a lost cause and the boxes of them just take up too much space. I have gotten rid of a ton of them, but I still have 4 more huge bags to go through. (If you think that's a lot, when we got back from AR., I had 25 boxes of clothes, 13 bags, 3 closets, 2 dressers and a wardrobe full of clothes and most didin't fit anymore. I gave all the ones in good condition to Mission Arlington, and used the tattered ones for rags or threw them away.) I'm pretty sure that I'm going to give away what's in the bags because what I have is enough. I don't need a different outfit for every day of the year. There are many more important things in my life than being stylish or looking good. I have a husband that loves me first thing in the morning and I'm not made up. I have a wonderful son who thinks I'm beatiful just as I am. And I have God's love no matter what. I have a roof over my head, family and food. I'm blessed. The rest just seems kind of petty and unnecessary now.

I ran into an old teacher the other day. She said that she was impressed by how well I grew up. She said that I suprised her because she never thought I would have the patience to love or take care of anyone but myself. (I'm realizing just how petty and shallow I used to be.) I'm trying not to feel proud, but it's hard. As I look back on my past and see myself now, the only explaination I can give for how I got from Point A to B is with God's grace. There is no other way. I'm learning to be thankful for what I have now. I've learned not to take anything for granted. We can lose everything in an instant. Not everybody has the support structure that we've been blessed with. My parents took us in and let us live there for a year. Our Small Group has prayed for us constantly and been our best friends for the last few years and stuck by us in our darkest hours. I thank everyone for their continued prayers for us. We pray that we can take the gifts we've been given and use them they way God wants us to.

I will post some pictures in a couple of days. (can't find the battery charger for the camera yet.)

Kristina

Honeymoon Weekend Pt. 2

I'm glad that I got to spend the weekend with my husband. Mostly. There was a party at the hotel that we went to Friday night and a Reception on Saturday. I had a blast. Everyone was so nice. I even got to sing a song with the band. Totally awesome. I spent Saturday wandering around Sundance Square and got to do some shopping. It was a great weekend "away" and nice to have some alone time with my husband. I hope we can do it again sometime soon. Preferably when he's not working so that we can spend more time together.

Back to work I go,
Kristina

Honeymoon Weekend

Well I get to spend the weekend with Jim in Ft. Worth. I'm excited. I'll post more tonight after the party, but I'm excited. We've never stayed in a hotel together before. It's about time I got a honeymoon.

More Later,
Kristina

Jim Loves His Job Today!

Hello all.

Jim here. I am working at taking care of a conference of Homeopathic Physicians today through Sunday. I am staying at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Fort Worth. Free food. A room with a couch. King-size bed. Wireless internet.

Suite-ness.

When Kristina is done with her date with Ryan, I expect her to come have her date with me Friday night. There is a party closing the event Saturday night, so I expect I will be dancing (scary sight, trust me) between tasks.

To a slightly more serious note: please pray for me. I'm having a physical health problem. An area around my left shoulder blade and around the side has felt like raw exposed skin for the last week. I don't understand what is might be except for a possible torn tissue under the skin, though there is only slight swelling, if any. It is getting on my nerves (sic) since I only have pain from my semi-annual kidney stones, and something new and mysterious bugs me.

Later.

Long Days

Well Jim is packing to go "out of town" for his job. He's going to be a whole 5 miles away. Definitely interesting. Ryan will be at his dad's this weekend and Jim will be "out of town". I don't know how I'll handle a quiet house. What a neat idea. I may have to scream a few times so that I don't feel lost without them. I can't believe that Ryan is still up. I wish I could sleep in like he does.

I went to get Ryan some school clothes today. While we were at the store, there was a mother there with her son. She just let him run wild through the store. The store employees were babysitting in a sense. This was obviously a special needs child. He was very dirty, he had a soiled diaper and had several bruises. When they left the store, the child pulled free from her and ran through the parking lot and across the street before the mom caught him. I know that parents sometimes have issues, but if you had seen what I did today you would be just as worried about this little boy as I am. I said a prayer for him when I got home. I will continue to pray that God will protect that little boy. I don't think he's in a safe place. I just don't understand how some parents can neglect their children. God has entrusted us to protect these angels and some parentss just don't seem to care. I don't understand that. Jim and I want more, and we have yet to be blessed with another. There are many other parents that want children that are unable to only to have other parents not want or care for the children they have. That makes me so sad sometimes and upset. I know there is a reason, I just wish I understood.

On a happier note, Ryan was happy to pick out his clothes this time for school. He can't wait to go back I think. Either that or he just doesn't like me picking out his clothes. Ryan and I are going to have a mommy/son date tomorrow after work. We're going to dinner and then skating and possibly the park (time and daylight allowing). I have to get some sleep. 5 am comes really fast.

Good Night

Our First Blog

This is our first blog. I guess we're supposed to talk about what we do so here I go. Yesterday my husband and I took my son and a friend to Six Flags. We had tons of fun even though it rained. If you ask Jim and Ryan what the best part of the day was I'm willing to bet it was splashing through the puddles. After we took my friend home we stopped to help some people that were in a bad accident. I'm not totally sure what happend because I was so tired that I think I slept through a bunch of it. Once we got home Jim realized that he had lost his work phone at the park. Needless to say he went to bed pretty upset. When we were going to work this morning Jim realized that on top of the phone missing, he had left his keys at home. Today didn't start out well for him. Well I got a call from Six Flags a couple of hours ago. They found his phone. I called him to let him know. We're going to stop by after work to go pick it up. He's very happy about that. Well my lunch is about over now. I guess I'll post more later. I'll follow up with some pictures of us later.