Unexpected Suprises

I went to Brad's mom's house to practice a skin care class with her.  Well I was pretty surprised when she actually placed an order.  I went there just expecting to run through and have her critique me so that I could learn and refine what I'm doing.  I know God is working through me and my business.  I can't wait to see what blessings He pours out on us as a family and on my business.

Mary Kay

I am sooo excited.  I had my first solo Mary Kay class last night and it was a blast.  I got to meet 2 new people and I had a blast getting to know them.  I just know I'm building new friendships and I'm having fun doing it.  My best friend Janelle wanted to learn more about the business opportunity and has decided to become a Mary Kay consultant as well.  I'm so excited for her.  This has been a good for me because I can work MY business around MY life.  I'm looking forward to teaching more classes.  I'm just so excited because we just had so much fun.  I'm not sure Jim did though.  He went to be the photographer, but at the last minute he became a babysitter.  I didn't get any pictures, but that's ok.  Maybe we'll get pictures at the next class.

Long time, no blog.

It's seriously been a looong time since either Kristina or I put anything up on the blog, so here goes.

I'm on the road at the Omni Hotel in Dallas at a conference, video-chatting over iChat with Kristina who is at home in Arlington.

Here she is.

Macs rock. I did a screen grab of myself screen-grabbing Kristina's picture as I chatted with her about blogging. Heh.

So, I am Ryan's soccer coach now. Not much difference corralling 6 Kindergarteners as opposed to corralling college kids to build stage sets. Frankly, the 6-year-olds are more fun and in some ways better behaved.

It's rewarding to see them improve their game. Some of these little guys could give me a run for my money. The only advantage I have over some of their skills is my size and speed.

Long day today from 4 am to now. Going to go up to my room soon and crash. Got to be up by 6 to get the set-up started for the presenters. Luxury. :D

Hope this post works.

I'll try and keep it up more in the future.

Jim

Weekend

Well the guys are gone and I have the house to myself tonight.  I never thought I wouldn't enjoy some peace and quiet.  I really wish that I had them here.  There's something to be said about a peaceful racket...........It's too quiet tonight.  I may turn in early......

Kristina

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!

HAPPY 2008 EVERYBODY!!!!!!!

STAY SAFE AND HAVE FUN.

We stayed up to welcome in the new year.   Now we are going to bed.  Good night everyone.

Jim, Ryan, Kristina

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