Top 10 things to know about me

I saw this done on another website and had to admit that I loved the idea.

#10 - My favorite color is lime green.

I don't really know why necessarily, but I really do like it. I especially like it when it is paired with other colors that make it pop - black, pink, blue.#9 - I am a beach bum at heart.

Blame it on my upbringing, but I love the sounds, smells and the general feeling of being at the beach. I love just walking around on a day when too much has gone on listening to the sounds. It is "home" to me.

#8 - I love flowers.

I love peonies, tulips, hydrangeas, lilies....flowers!

#7 - I love photography.

I grew up with a shutterbug father. We were always in pictures, taking pictures or looking at pictures. I prefer photography to other art pieces. Give me a good black and white by Ansel Adams and I am a happy girl!

#6 - My favorite stores are Ikea and Crate and Barrel. I could move in and take up residence at both stores. I use to say I was never a contemporary modern type but these two stores tell me different.

#5 - Relaxing to me sitting on the couch with a good movie. Love a good chick flick or musical!

#4 - I love 80's music. Enough said!

#3 - I love genealogy.

I have always been interested in it, but with Ancestry.com, I have become a junkie. It is so cool to see and learn about other family members.

#2 - I love my family.

My husband is truly my best friend. My girls are a total blast most days (come on, we all have those other days!).

I have an incredible immediate family and awesome in-laws. I love all my nephews and have a blast when I get to hang out with them. I am extremely blessed.

#1 - I love my Jesus.

He loves me even though I don't deserve it at all.

Friends are truly friends forever

I was blessed by my parents and my sister with an early birthday present - a trip to CA to hang out with my friends. We were having a reunion of the people who attended the youth group from the 80's and 90's. I didn't think I would be able to attend since I am 3000 miles away, but my family knew it was something I would love.

It was an awesome weekend. I was able to hang out with my sister and her family for the first and last night of my long weekend in Orange County. Being around my nephews during my visit was heaven. I had always dreamed that I would be an active part of my sister's childrens lives, like she was with my girls, whenever she and her husband decided to have kids. Little did I know that God had other plans for our lives which included moving us clear across the country while my sister was pregnant with my 1st nephew. Auntie T was now a person of phone calls, pictures and gifts from afar. I cherished hearing those little giggles and constant questions of "why" and "Auntie, guess what?!" during my stay. Though I will admit it has been awhile since I have been in a household with an 19 month old and 5 year old. They can be exhausting, but I loved it!

Friday we drove down to San Diego to hang out with my parents and attend the reunion which was on Saturday. I had so much fun seeing friends who shared those awkward moments in life called the teenage years with me. We laughed at memories of trips taken, cried for friends we lost both then and now and were in awe of where God has brought all of us.

During the time of hanging out, we had a video playing on the screens from a youth musical we did in my junior year called "Friends Forever," which is based on Michael W. Smith's song "Friends Forever." We did the musical shortly after we lost 4 girls within a 1 year span of time. The musical was fun and a much needed part of our healing process. That musical seem to express what we were truly feeling for each other at that time. We were going to be friends forever. Better yet, we became family.

I have seen many youth groups since and no one has ever seemed to have the geniune love and compassion for each other like we have for all of each other. We are now scattered throughout the US and world but we honestly care about each of our friends and want to keep in touch with them. We pray for each other across the miles, send notes of encouragement or congratulations for each life change and make an effort to keep in touch with one another in a world that seems to be losing the art of personal contact.

One of our friends who spoke at the reunion stated it the best. He referred to the closing line of a note that one of the leaders had written to him in high school that ended with FAFFITLTLOT. Friends are friends forever, if the Lord's the Lord of them. I agree...if God is in the center, anything is possible.

No matter how many years

No matter how many miles

WE ARE FRIENDS (FAMILY) FOREVER!

Confession

OK...I have a confession to make. It's a good thing no one really follows this blog because this could be rather embarrassing.

I am 30+ years old and I love the HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL movies!

Yes, I said it! I love the High School Musical movies - 1, 2 and 3. I finally came to this conclusion after my husband and girls left for church and I was still watching the movie "High School Musical 3". I even went back and watched a couple more songs again. As a person who has done choreography for students in musicals I love all the dancing in the third movie! I think the chemistry both on and off the screen between Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens makes the scenes even more special. Yes, I really love these movies!

I don't know what it is about these movies that is so fun, but they really are fun. I think right now the third installment is my favorite. There is just something about that senior year in high school and all the emotions going on that all the songs seem to be hitting a cord with my soul. Wow...that is a pretty profound and deep thought for a tween movie!

I guess I am getting sentimental due to the fact that I am heading "home" to have a mini reunion with friends from my high school years. I love these people tons! They made me who I am today.

While there are times I dreaded high school and all that went along with it, I do remember helping my girlfriends get ready for proms, dances, dates, etc. Those are the memories I treasure. The laughter about nothing. The anxiety about the evening. The fears of how the night will go. I want my girls to experience those times with their friends. I can't wait to watch from the "wings" while my girls make on their own "scenes of life."
Well now that it's out in the open all I can say is: "Anyone want to come over and have a High School Musical marathon?!"

Help my friends

I just want to post this for my friends, Travis and Beckie Kiker. They are the most special people who have a heart for everyone! They especially have a passion for adoption. They were blessed with their 17 month old daughter Nevaeh through adoption. However, God has dropped another blessing in their laps and they need help. God opened the door for them to adopt a baby boy who is due anytime now. It happened so quickly it can only be a God thing!

However, adoptions cost money. They had not planned to adopt this quickly and are in need of funds in order to receive this special blessing God has offered them.

If you would please take a look at this website and if you can help out in anyway, we would all be extremely grateful!

http://www.kikeradoption.com/

My One Word

I have been hearing about "My One Word" for the last week on KLOVE as I drive to work in the morning. Basically the concept is you choose one word that you want express what you want God to do for you and through you in the new year.

The DJ's words were dream and present. I had been praying for God to show me what I should do this year as my word. What did God want to show me this year? What did God want me to learn this year? The word came to me pretty quickly and was confirmed by the song that played after God revealed my word and the scripture verses that came with that.

MY ONE WORD FOR 2010: TRUST

While I was hoping for a more creative word or something totally different from the norm, the more that the day went on, this word was exactly what I needed. Trust ... that is a hard concept sometimes to learn which is probably why God has chosen this word to signify what 2010 is going to be for me. Trusting others, trusting God, trusting myself...all things that God will be showing me.

I have to admit I am a little scared at this endeavor. Trust...what is God going to bring for me that I have to trust totally on Him? After all the stuff that happened in 2009, I thought my trust in Christ was pretty strong. Who knows? God knows and all I have to do is trust that He will not give me more than I can handle.

The scriptures God gave me on that day are found in Matthew 6:25-34 which speaks about not worrying about where our "things" come from. We are to trust in Him because He is the one who takes care of us. The song is Lincoln Brewsters "Today is the Day." I have attached the video for you to hear the song. This was just such confirmation to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B300gQkgDS0

So, what is God saying to you? What is your word? I would love to know so I can be praying for you this year as God reveals Himself in a way that you may have never seen before.

I will TRUST in HIM.

2009 Year in Review

Well...2009 has truly come and gone. I can't say that I wasn't happy to see it leave. Don't get me wrong, we had some great times in 2009, but there were lots of changes.

Here are some of the highlights/changes that happened

January - Mr. A out on sick leave as doctors are trying to figure out what is going on with his hips and back. Months of injections, scans, x-rays, PT still ultimately lead up to surgery (see December for more details)

May - Mr. A and I celebrate 14 years of marriage. Still love the guy as much as I did when we started dating if not more.

June - Ky graduated from 8th grade. AJ graduated from 5th. Both are moving into new adventures in their academics while mom and dad struggle to figure out how we got here. Went on a vacation to San Diego to visit with family. Able to meet both "new" additions to the family, nephews E and J. Had a great time eating at our favorite dives while doing things such as the fair, going to Julian and the beach.

July/August/September - Get some disturbing news about nephew J. Has a genetic disorder called Denys-Drash syndrome . Wishing we could be closer to help the family as we all learn to deal with the new reality. Many surgeries to come but always hopeful. God is in control

August - Our new reality hits - Ky is in high school and AJ is in middle school. Where did the time go?! Ky's schedule as a freshman in high school looks like something I had while in college. AJ having to set her own path not to live in Ky's shadow. Luckily she doesn't have any of the same teachers until second semester so she will get to prove herself on her own.

September - Thanks to FIL, we are able to get away for a couple of days over the Labor Day weekend. Headed to Asheville and bummed around the area for a few days. We were able to do some gem panning/mining which we love and found some awesome stones including rubies. Still didn't make it to Biltmore - cost too much for this budget group -but it is still on our list to do one of these days!

November - Had a quiet Thanksgiving with the four of us plus Mr. A's dad. We went and watched Blindside in the morning then headed back for our small feast. We were thankful for all the blessings God gave us especially the ones sitting around the table.

December - Hit like a ton of bricks. Just the season alone is enough to drive some people clinically insane, but we had even more to add to this season. Our nephew J had his kidneys removed on December 1st. This is done to ensure that he won't get cancer in his kidneys (a side effect of his condition) A week before that we found out Mr. A's mom lost her job. She had worked at this place for a long time. She was a very loyal and devoted employee. As of today she is still looking for a job.

Ky and the band from the youth group were a part of the Battle of the Bands in honor of a student who was undergoing a bone marrow transplant to help with Sickle Cell. The band placed 2nd and Ky's confidence went through the roof. She is a singer while the rest of the guys play instruments and some sing too.

AJ turned 12 the same weekend this Battle of the Bands and the church Christmas production were happening. Talk about crazy...but wait...that Monday, December 14th Mr. A headed into the hospital for spinal surgery.

After months of back and forth with doctors, almost an entire year out of a job on short and long term disability, the doctors decided that the original fusion that happened in 2003 needed to be repaired. Surgery lasted about 3 hours and he was in the hospital for 4 days. We are so thankful for our church family who provided meals, visited Mr. A in the hospital and called to check up on me. We are truly thankful for Celebration Family Church. They rock!

While Mr. A was in the hospital, Mr. A's dad was rushed to the VA hospital on the other side of town with mysterious symptoms. At this point, I just wanted my parents there. Luckily they arrived on the 19th and stayed until the 26th. We didn't do much as Mr. A was still recovering but I was so glad to have someone else there to help take some of the pressure off of me.

Christmas was quiet and small but sweet. My family around me was enough. We had made it through some trials in 2009 but to have my family safe, secure and a little weathered was still priceless.

I know it may look like I hit some pretty low points, but looking back they are what got us to where we are today. We are still thankful that we have a God who provides. We may not have a lot materially, but we do have Him and each other. That's a lot in my book.

We are so looking forward with anticipation to see what 2010 brings.

Well, better late than never

I say it every couple of months, but here I go again...I am here! Really I am here. I check all my friend's blogs and try to keep up to date but life happens. I am trying to be more disciplined about taking the time and writing down what is going on with our lives.

Here are some updates on the family:

Mr. A is doing pretty good. We are in a holding pattern currently for his back. He meets with the surgeon again on Friday to see where we go from here. He had a procedure a couple of weeks ago that was pretty brutal called a discogram. You think that with the word disco in it, it would be fun! That couldn't be further from the truth. They literally insert needles in to the discs of his back from his hip and then begin to fill it with fluid until he couldn't handle it anymore. It was basically to see what the pain level was. Again..not fun!

KA is thriving in high school. We couldn't be more proud of how easily she has adapted to the new environment. At her six week progress report she is averaging a 96% in everyone of her
classes. Now here comes for the really bragging part...the list of my 9th grader's classes in which she is holding a 96% - Intro to physics, Intro to biotechnology, Honors world history and honors English. I don't even think I was taking some of those classes in college let alone my first semester of high school! I am so proud of her!

AJ is doing pretty good in middle school. She is still adjusting to the work load and trying to balance different teachers. She isn't doing bad but it has been fun trying to get all her projects completed. Literally the first night of school she had to do a project that was trying to identify the socioeconomics of the city we live in along with the cultural and religious diversity of our neighborhood. ARE YOU SERIOUS??!! Really for a brand new 6th grader on the first day...why don't you just send all the parents homework because we are the ones who have to explain all of those terms in layman's terms so our children could even do the homework! Other than that she is doing well. I think we will be in a better groove come second semester once we help her establish new study habits.

Other than that, we have already had the flu hit our house! The girls both got the flu a couple of weeks ago. AJ tested positive for the flu and KA was told that she had the symptoms even though her test came up negative. Once the girls got better then Mr A who took care of them got bronchitis. We are finally doing better. I had a head cold, but luckily I didn't get anything they had.

Well I guess that is a quick recap of what has happened with us recently. I am off to help AJ with her latest project - a 3-D structure of the moon due tomorrow.