And we're off.....

And so I'm of to Seminar.  I'm super excited and I can't wait to get there.  So off I go to the land of pink.  I get to meet my team for the first time.  I get to stay in a great hotel.  I get to learn so much.  I must run now.  I have lots to do and no more time left.....

For now, maybe more later

She Haley

Prayers Please

I just spoke with my mother-in-law a few minutes ago.  She asked us to pray for my sister-in-law and her husband.  Joe has been in the hospital since 4th of July weekend.  He has stage 3 liver disease.  They have recently ended his treatments because they are doing more harm than good.  He blacked out the morning of the 4th.  He finally went to the hospital on Saturday the 5th when he started coughing up blood.  They've said that he only has a few years left to live and they have put him on a transplant list for a new liver.  Patti needs prayer for the strength to get through this.  Within the last couple of years her Uncle Buddy passed away (he had Down's Syndrome) and her brother passed away last year in June.  My mother-in-law is very depressed about all this as well.  They just had an auction for the estate.  Her comment to me was "This just never seems to end"  We are planning on going up to see them on the 25th.  Pray that God gives us the words and all the hugs they will need and then some.

Our Family

From L to R: Dorothy & Bill Halley, Jim & Kristina Halley,

Kathie & Phil De La Rosa, Vicki Carter, AJ Haagenson

This was taken 4/10/2004

I praise God that he has healed our relationship last summer.  I'm so happy that I can have these talks with my mother-in-law now.  I'm glad that I can offer comfort to her, even if it's just a hug and/or a prayer.  Those in our small group know the full extent of the story of the relationship.  For those who don't no worries.  It's in the past.  We've forgiven.  We've not forgotten though.  One needs to remember the past to learn for the future.  I love my in-laws and tell them quite often.  I don't even use their names anymore when I call.  It's always 'mom' and 'dad'.  Praise God for that!!!!!!!!!

I have to go now.  Ryan wants me to help him build a lego house.

Posted by She Halley

Reflecting on my life.

As my 10 year reunion rapidly approaches, I'm forced to look back upon my life and wonder where that 10 years went. I realize that for nearly 8 of the 10 years, I've been a parent. I'm not sure where the 2 years in between went, I think maybe dating and work and that was it. I lived at my job then. As I look back I realize just how much I have changed. When I was in high school and even when I was pregnant with my son, I HATED kids. I never wanted any and for a while contemplated adoption. I believe God prevented that from happening for a reason. I'm truly blessed that he did. When I told my family that I was keeping my baby, I was told over and over that I was going to fail. Here I am with his birthday approaching realizing that not only have I not failed, I've learned that I can admit to my son when I make a mistake and earn his respect. He admits his mistakes with the same humility that I do. It's great to see that he does what he sees and not necessarily what we say. That can be good and bad in so many ways. It keeps you on your toes. During my son's life, I've had to fight to survive. I tend to make decisions based on what I feel is best for my family, but God has so often reminded me that only he knows what's best for my family and that we should always consult him first. I've learned that life is what happens while I'm busy planning. Thankfully Ryan's Dad and I and my husband all get along great. The guys both coach Ryan's soccer team and they get along great. We are truly blessed. I know that most blended families don't have the kind of relationship that we do. I've learned also that I can make it through the valleys and come out on top. Every fall that I've taken, I get back up, dust myself off and try again. I had an old teacher tell me that shows how much I've matured. She said that 10 years ago, I would have walked away the first time I fell. I thank God for teaching me how to get up, and continue on my way.

  It's cool to look back and see that what I've done is the last thing I ever thought I'd do.  I became a mom and a few years later I became a wife.  I'm glad that God knows far better what's good for me than I think I do.  Even though we've had our ups and downs and valleys, I'm so thankful for the love that surrounds my life every day.  I'm thankful that God has chosen to bless me in ways I don't feel I deserve, but that he wants to give me anyways.

So here are some pictures to highlight some of the milestones since senior year.  I haven't changed in looks, (at least in my opinion) but I have changed on the inside.

It's nice to look back and see how much I've changed and grown over the last few years.

This was Senior Prom Spring of 1999

This was taken just days before Ryan was born.

September 1, 2001

This was taken just hours after Ryan was born.

September 9, 2001

This was the day we became the

Halley-Warner Family

April 10, 2004

This was taken July 4, 2008

The rants of She Halley.

What on earth is in the water??????

So far 2 couples that we are in small group with are preggers.  That is totally awesome and we are so happy for our friends.  One of them is having twin boys.  Super cool!!!!  Well on Friday afternoon I found out my cousin Chloe is going to also be having a baby.  Awesome.  This will be her second child.  I'm so happy for her and her husband Rob!!!!!!

So Friday night We are at a dinner with some former classmates so that we can start planning our 10 year reunion.  While we are getting ready to leave, my BFF Nickle (that's what Ryan calls her) calls me.  She hems and haws a little before I finally get her to spit it out.  She's 6 weeks pregnant with her husband.  The boys are so excited too.  They are going to be big brothers!!!!!  I'm so happy for them.  They have been trying for a little while.  

Now if you guys can send me some of that water that you have been drinking that would be great because I am so ready for it to be my turn.

Congratulations to all you new and repeat parents to be.  You guys are all in our prayers.

She Halley

Ryan, The High Dive, and a Fight with the ground.......

Ok so the apartment pool is not working today for some reason.  So we packed up our pool gear and went to Alan Bolden Pool.  That's where my mom took me as a kid.  That is where I learned to swim, dive, and how NOT to dive off the high dive.  Overall things went great...............UNTIL..................................

Ryan decided to get into a fight with

the concrete earth. Needless to say, he lost.

Just before Ryan decided to slam his 

face into the earth, we had talked him into 

jumping off the high dive.  

At this point and time, he had already 

jumped off the low dive several times.

This was a lucky shot that I happened to get.  He asked me to count to 3 for him to jump.  I did w/o pausing and he jumped on 3 with no hesitation.  Jim and I were both shocked out of our minds.  We both expected him to hesitate and take a few minutes once he got up there, but he didn't.  He even went back and jumped several more times after I put up the camera.

This is one of the last times he jumped.  

He gave us a thumbs up sign right before he jumped.

This was taken right after his first jump off the high dive.  Jim stayed in the water....just in case.  Ryan came up with this gigantic smile and proceeded to jump off the high dive several more times.  I just couldn't believe how much he enjoyed it.  I jumped twice and that was enough for me.  Jim however only jumped once.  And that was on a dare from Ryan......hmm.....

All in all we had fun today and I'm glad that our pool wasn't working.  I never would have thought he would love the diving boards the way he did.  It was great.  I just can't believe that he is big enough to jump off the diving boards into 13' of water now...........Where has the time gone......................

Moving Day!!!

We are moving at the end of the month if anybody wants to help.  I'm offering pizza and sodas as a bribe.  Our apartments had an opening for a downstairs apartment so we jumped on it.  We are excited because now my mom can come over and we can finally have some dinners and BBQ's at our place with my family.  The new apartment is downstairs and right behind our current apartment.  Talk about saving gas money.  I can't wait.  We will have to get our W/D from my parents house.  The new apartment has the connections for a set.  If anybody has a truck that can help us with that, then we can pay for the gas.

Here are some pictures of the apartment.  It will be the same floorplan and layout as the old one.

This is the dining room.

We've since removed the table 

and turned it into my office

This is the living room.

We've rearranged a little.

Here's the kitchen. 

Where the pantry is is where

the W/D will be.

This is Ryan's room.  

We removed the dresser when we 

gave Ryan his toybox for Christmas.

This is where the toybox currently

is.  The cubes in the picture are now 

where the dresser was in the 

above picture.

Here's a sideways picture of the bathroom. 

Here's the vanity area.

Here's our bedroom.

Not much here.

Here's our bed.  Thank goodness

we won't have the sliding mirrors.

The new apt. will have a walk in closet.

Here's our dressers.  Not much here either.

So here are the pictures of the apartment that I promised a year ago.  I can't wait until we move.  That means I will no longer have to drag a week's worth of laundry up and down a flight of stairs and over to my mom's and waste a day doing laundry there.  It also means we won't have to change Ryan's schools.  We will also stay pretty central to everything.  I'm so glad that we will be staying here.

Kristina

4th of July

So this year we were on the AHS Alumni Band float. It's amazing to me that after 10 years I still remember all that music and antics. We had a blast getting ready for the parade as well. We were decorating the float until midnight the night before the parade. The joy of that was that we had to be in our spot at 7:00 AM. Talk about memories. We even got a shirt for Ryan. He's going to be class of 2020. I got some cute pictures of him. The coolest part for the band geek in me is that I got to sit right next to Ms. Corey. He husband is the Late Dean Corey. He was the first band director for AHS and he also wrote our fight song. I put some pictures up on facebook, but I will also put them here too.

Ryan hard at work 

decorating the float.

The finished float.  Looking good.

Getting warmed up to play.

I look silly here.

Here we go.  Jim is our 

fearless driver.

We're 21 years apart in school.

Like mother like son.

So we had fun and continued a parade tradition that started so many years ago when I was in my first parade.  I had a friend ask me if I would ever retire from parade duties.  Maybe someday, but as a family we just have too much fun in the parade to stop.  

On another note, this Friday is the first meeting of the Class of '99 Reunion committee.  It will be fun to see where we all are now.  Lots of hard work to come.  I can't wait.

I hope everyone is having a great summer.

Kristina