Happy Birthday

Today was my golden birthday! 28 years old on the 28th of October, and I was born on a Tuesday, how ironic. I had a great day, my co-workers got me a red velvet cake and a funny card. When I got home, Ryan took me and the kids to the Mellow Mushroom for Pizza. It was good!! For my present, I got the Ipod tuner for my van I wanted, which is awesome!! What a great day! Above is the picture of me and the kids at the restaurant. My hair is pulled back from work... not too bad!

Another Day

Today at work we started our pre-UT&W, which means our chiefs are deciding what will be taught for our course. I thought this would be very boring and "death by powerpoint", but it is actually very interesting. After work, Zoe and I went to her last soccer practice of the season. After soccer I felt a huge energy surge and put away mounds of clean laundry. So maybe instructing is what is draining me, or maybe it's being active at 0400 am some mornings and going nonstop till 9 pm.... I definitley felt more energy today than I have after work in a long time, and it was not artificially enhanced by an energy drink, as I have become so accustomed to.

I feel like I need to say something about yesterday, we went to church and listened to a speaker from Vicksburg, MS speak on the so called christian Word of Faith movement. It was very interesting. He spoke about that in the coming days we will see more false prophets and teachers than ever before teaching false doctorines of God that are completely untrue. He named some names of people who he feels are false, like Joel Osteen, Jesse Duplantis, Creflo Dollar and some others frequently seen on television. Ryan and I have discussed it, and I think that we need to seek God for ourselves and not through someone else.

Reminiscing

We have been so busy lately.... wow... soccer, church, singing, work, it's all a blessing, but really hard on my body. I thought this week it might be a good time to reflect on the past a little. I was thinking about where I was this time last year, and the struggles I had placed before God at that time. So in honor of last year, I will post a blog that I wrote a little more than a year ago.

August 8, 2007 - Wednesday

About 3 weeks ago, I got a phone call asking if I would move to Mississippi to be an instructor for my career field. Ryan and I talked and we decided we could do it. He immediatley, (in that following week) found a job near the base and he has taken Zoe and they are living with my uncle. That in itself was a HUGE miracle, although it requires sacrifice, because our family is now split up until my Commander approves me to leave. (apparently I am un-replacable) Anyway, I need lots of prayers to see me through this and the sale of my home, not to mention packing up the house to go to Mississippi with no place to move.....
I know that it will all work out, as we have already overcome huge challenges, such as Ryan not getting immediate reciprocity for his licence, and is only receiving substitute pay until the application is cleared through thier main district, as well as the Air Force not agreeing to let me out of Little Rock until my PRK profile is over... etc...... So please say a prayer for me and my family....
Nobody can touch us now...... I am moving to Mississippi..... I have my orders!!!!



Well, that was 1 year ago, and SO many things have happened since then...... I have fallen in love with my new job, my husband (all over again). I am eternally greatful for the life I have been given. We have been given a whole new fresh look at financial discipline, as we spent 7 months paying rent and mortgage, and it is only by the grace of God that we survived that... thank the Lord for ramen! We also have been given a second chance to make our marriage work. Praise the Lord for that! I recently said I have the best husband in the world, and I really meant it!
Praise the Lord for all the trials of the last year, and all the ones to come!

New movie

I am so excited about this new movie made by a church for marriages everywhere. Ryan and I will be going to see it, next Sunday, and I want you to find out where it is in your area and go see it too..... the website is fireproofthemovie.com....

I now belong to the part of humanity called the "Early Risers"

This morning my eyes opened at 0232. It is now 2105 hrs and I am very tired, this will be short. Work was great today. My prior service students seem to have the hang of things and although my non priors showed up 1 hr late, we took it all in stride. My voice is now sore from all the talking I did today, and my back is unusually sore. Things are still busy at work, but I am hoping to use tommorrow evening to play catch-up.
It is only by the Grace of God that I can live!!!!!

Busy as a bee

How busy are bees exactly? I have no idea. But I am pretty busy. Actually today has been a pretty productive day, and it is about to be over. Work has been extremley busy for me. I start a new class tommorrow and to be honest I am a little apprehensive about it, more so than other classes due to the fact that more than half the class will out-rank me. This is very new for me and I can see how it could go VERY wrong if I am not careful. I need to pray-- note to self.... pray about class tommorrow and that you actually wake up at 0400 so you can get to work at 05oo, like u said u would to a co-worker. AHHHH..... breathe......
So Mondays are going to be soccer practice. Tuesdays, time for Ryan to get some daddy time. Wednesdays church night, Thursday this week will be for my friend Ben who is graduating from the NCO academy, (yes I am going on a date with a man who is not my husband... I know... shame!) J/K! It's not really a date.... it's a function. And maybe Friday will be date night with my husband. hoorah! Now for some random thoughts........ I need to figure out a way to change my eating habits to keep the weight off..... I gained alot back that I recently lost..
I really intended this blog to be more of a spiritual nature and I am dissappointed about that with myself. Mostly dissapointed that I have not remained motivated to be a daily bible reader... yes I said it..... i want to be perfect...... but I know that's never gonna happen. Zoe is doing ok overall in school, but I want her to do better especially with Reading and Language Arts. She really struggles with that.
Thomas on the other hand is doing fantabulous (fantastic and fabulous) at his new daycare. I absolutely love that he is there.... although he has come home a couple days in a row now saying "We no bite our friends!" So cute!
Everyone in our family survived hurricane Gustav with no damage, however my grandparents are still without power. Lots of thoughts and still more work to complete before tommorrow morning. So I'll try to blog more later!

I am officially.............

A soccer MOM!!!!!!

Soccer

Today after work we signed Zoe up for soccer. She seems pretty excited. She did better than I expected at the trials. I am proud of her for wanting to try something new. It was raining, and we did wait in the rain, so now I am cold, and I can't shake it. Maybe some hot chocolate will do. I will be posting pics as soon as she starts practice and games on 02 Sep.
Today I also got tickets for Sesame Street coming to Keesler. Thomas is going to LOVE it!!!
Thanks to all those who prayed last week. Things are definitely better. Last night I went to the bridge alone. I ran the majority of the 3.6 miles. I was remembering back an old squadron commander who used to run back for me everytime and say "Michelle, think of running as a spiritual experience, even if you have to say, oh Lord Jesus, please help me make it to the end!!!" I am definitely starting to see the attraction that people develop to running. I am not totally sold yet, but I am getting there. I had a spiritual experience there on the bridge last night.

struggles

The last couple days have really been a struggle for our family. We are having a rough time as parents, and husband and wife. Seems like we are not on the same page. Sometimes we are not even reading the same book. So if you are reading this and feel inclined to pray for us, please do.
We are having power struggles with Zoe and we need some confirmation that we are doing the right things as parents. This specific time has placed so much stress on us, that we are having a hard time remembering why we got married in the first place because we are so different. So we are all in strife.
Father,
I pray that you use this time for your glory. I pray that you will use this to to draw Ryan and I closer to you and closer to each other. I pray that we will draw closer as a family as a result of this season in our lives.
Amen

More videos

I guess if I say videos, that means more than one, huh?

Videos of Thomas

Mondays

Today after work I went to the doctor. I have been having ear pain and hearing loss since my last cold in December/January. The doc said my ear drums are bulging from fluid again, and gave me more meds. He says now I need to get a hearing test. I sure am hoping the pain goes away soon, although I am not looking forward to how sleepy this decongestant is going to make me.

4th of July weekend

This weekend was pretty uneventful, but very nice and relaxing just the same. For the 4th, (Friday) we went with some new friends, April and Patrick and thier children to a creek near our house. It was nice and shallow, Thomas was able to sit and there were deeper parts for the older kids. Friday night we went back to April and Patricks for fireworks. We stayed till late and had a great time. They are going to become good friends, I can tell.
Saturday we decide to for go the normal trip to NOLA, and try to get some things done around the house. It is so hard to get anything done with the kids right behind us. So we got baseboards nailed down, and the lawn mowed. I went Saturday morning with April for a pedicure and lunch thereafter. It was very nice. Sunday we went to church and our choir leader forgot to tell us to come on stage so we all rushed as the service began. It was kinda funny actually.... had to be there I guess.
Monday we took the kids over to Nick and Cristi's house to swim. We were there for 2 hours maybe and brought the kids home for a nap. We relaxed the rest of the day, and prepared for my work week.

The last week.... very busy days

Last week was very exciting! Monday and Tuesday I went to work. Wednesday we got up and rolled out the door at 0430 to go to Atlanta. We arrived in Atlanta 5 hours later with no problems other than road construction. The kids were really good the whole trip. We took the kids to the Atlanta zoo, and they seemed to enjoy it. I was really greatful that the weather was not too hot.

The meerkats above we took pictures of for Ethan, so he could see what a real meerkat looks like. Then, later that day we met Katie, Don, Robert and Luke at the airport to hang out. (My whole motivation for going on this trip)






We then went to our room. We stayed at NAS Atlanta. It was nice, but a challenge to get the kids to sleep in the same bed. Thursday morning I got up and found out that I am being promoted to E-6! I am SO excited!!! So to celebrate, we went to Steak and Shake for lunch before going to the aquarium.







Thursday night we took the kids to a park in Marietta, close to where we were staying and had icecream. They ate, and then played on the train. Thomas felt like we were cheating him and screamed for a cone till Ryan got him one.





Friday, we drove from Atlanta to NOLA to drop the kids off for a anniversary celebration. My Aunt Julie watched the kids Friday and Saturday night.

Sunday

Yesterday and today were very relaxing days. Yesterday I got all my house cleaning done.. Today we went to church for the end of VBS celebration. It was so cute, and I can't believe I forgot my camera. Luckily, I sat next to Cristi and she took some. I got to see Ryan in a hula skirt, that was so funny. After the waterfest of VBS teachers getting wet, we went to El Saltillo with Chad, Kristen and some new friends. Chad told the waiter that it was Ryan's birthday, so they came out with a hat and a dessert. It was so funny cause he had no idea what was going on. Then he tells Chad,...you do know my birthday is in December right? It was so funny.
Then we came home and planned to complete the touch-up paint but instead decided to take a nap. The kids took a long nap today too... we must ahve all been tired.
Today I have felt extreeeemly blessed to have the best husband ever. I am so greatful that he got to teach VBS. I truly pray that someone he meets will reach him with Christ. On another note, Zoe asked Ryan if she could go up to the altar during VBS, and when he asked her why she said "I don't know"... I think she is getting closer everyday to making a decision for Jesus. YEAH!!!!

more pics

The living room/kitchen


The kitchen


Zoe's room


The living room


Thomas' new room... I am so proud of the work we did!





My husband studiously trying to fix the fuel line on the weed eater


Our new rental house


Zoe and Lindsay


Zoe learning how to take pictures of herself

Some recent pics

We have been SOOO busy. I will recap soon.. but for now here are some pictures...

Long days long nights

Well, since I last wrote, we have moved our entire house 15 miles east. It was a tiring and exhausting process. Mostly because we rented this house under the pretense that the people before us somewhat took care of it. They did anything but that. They had pets and smoked in the house. Every door and painted wall had damage from the smoke and/or pets. Can anyone say NASTY? I scrubbed on Friday, the entire day. The carpet guy came, and worked miracles on the carpet. By Saturday morning, there had been a rag rubbed over every part of the inside of this house. We worked Friday night till 4 am, painting, hanging borders (of which I will now only ever endorse the stick kind... the pre-paste kind was not nice to me.) We got some volunteers from church to help and I had to pick them up at 8am Saturday morning. We were all moved in by Sat at 1200, and we have been unpacking ever since. Hopefully I will get the remainder of the unpacking/organizing/de-cluttering/hanging of curtains tommorrow. For now, I think I am going to sit back and watch some tv.

Long day

This morning started at 0445. I showered, and dressed for work and was there barely by 6 as usual. Thanks to Ryan I had lunch packed and Thomas ready in 45 minutes. What an amazing man I have!!!! Work today was reviewing, and all my students passed block III test yeah!!!! After work, PT in the HOT HOT HOT 94 degree sun and then off to the new rental house. I got the two bathrooms clean, but I still need to mop one bathroom, and clean the baseboards and fans. We will defintely be getting new toilet seats from Lowe's in the next couple of days. These people were SOOO dirty. I don't think I have ever seen that much hair in my life. And I still have the urine smell in my nose, 3 hours later. I have a headache and my eyes burn, but that could be from being tired. So more tommorrow, if I don't go to the Stevie Nicks concert. I have Friday off, praise GOD!!!!
.....more to come on the house day by day.........

Time flies

Thomas my little rock star


Zoe and the beauty queen wave

Wow!!!! Where did the last week go? What did I do? whew!!! I had to read Ryan's journal, and even then, it's sketchy. Today I am immensely excited to tell all the world that Thomas learned to spit today! Okay, I know it doesn't really sound that great but I am talking about spitting in the sink, while brushing his teeth with big boy toothpaste. He was so excited about finally using the Dora and Diego toothpaste that Zoe got. I showed him one time and he was on it! I just hope he does not use his skills anywhere else. He was so cute he says "Daddy I PIT!!!!!" and we tried to get him to say sssss-pit to no avail. Children are so cute and innocent sometimes.
So lets recap the last couple days....

Tuesday
When Zoë woke she and Ryan spent time on finetunes.com creating a play list together. She named the songs and I would type them into the search bar. After breakfast they wanted to go to the beach so they walked bar foot along the shore and found alive a hermit crab that was sheltered in a sea shell. They also found boxes for our move. It has been decided that we will go with the Curious George theme for Thomas' room so I took back the things we bought the day before and ordered the new borders and stickers for his room.



Wednesday

The packing begins... although I went straight to bed. Later that evening Zoë and I went to a dinner for a someone in my ofice that's seperating and Thomas and Ryan went to band practice.

Thursday

Zoë and Ryan packed her room.

Friday

We all went to Dora at the Lynn Meadows Discovery Cener. Thomas loved it. The rest of us were very disappointed. What can you expect for $2!! Good thing we didn't go during the day show or it would have been $9 a person!

Saturday
I took the kids to Bram’s birthday party and Ryan stayed home and practiced the Vivaldi Concerto.

Sunday June 1st, 2008

We went to church this morning to see the Bird Songs. They do some real nice bluegrass and modern rock. We liked it so much that we went back to see them again for the evening service.

Thanks to Ryan for the recap.... where was I last week? wow!! My brain hurts just thinking about it. Hopefully I will be more in control this week!