Really Woolly

I received a card in the mail while I was back for Thanksgiving break from a dear friend. The name of the cards are "really woolly". Let me tell you a little bit about this card, and how special it is to me.

Right before Thanksgiving I was diagnoised with Hypothryoidism. Which means that I will be spending quite some time at the doctor in the next few months to really determine what is happening to my body. For now, I have been started on some medicine and will go next week for my first visit to the endo doc. I have spent quite a bit of time on the internet trying to get a grip on what exactly this is. Well, when reading the types of people this affects, I was not in the groups at all, and was even more confused until I came to the line where it said " can come during pre menaposaul stages ", so that has me even more freaked out as I now have what seems to be three strikes against me for wanting to have kids.
- having most of my ovaries removed due to the cysts
-having polycystic ovary disease and the dr's telling me for the past three years that I have a very limited time to get pregnant.
-now am showing signs of going into menapause.

so.... needless to say I was very frustrated, and holding and being around my nephew all weekend was great, but made me think that I may never have that chance.

So, back to the card. The little info from the creator about the card on the back says " The one who loves me most-even at my wolliest- is my shepherd! It was in such a "woolly" time that HE helped me see how much He really loves his sheep. Raising a family and other daily adventures causes me to leap into the Shepherds open arms and trust him for dear life! Figuring you might need the same encouragement I find in him, I scribble them down, then I smile as a dear friend paints the Shepherd's woolly flock into life in his pasture of promises. I hope you will be encouraged by his failthfullness too."

The inside of the card says "when things seem to be unraveling, just remember who is knitting all things together for good!"

Thanks Andrea for this little pick me up /reminder that God works for the good of those who love and trust him, and who have been called according to his purpose!!!

I know that things seem to have not gone in the way that I want them too, and as hard as it is, as frustrtated as I am, I cant help but continue to trust him, he knows the desires of my heart.

I ask that you continue to remember me in your thougts and prayers as I will continue to trust him......
Warm Blessings

Operation Christmas Child

Each year our church partners with The Samaritanspurse and we send shoe boxes to kids in third world counties for Christmas. I believe this year our boxes are going to Haiti, which is interesting to me. As I just returned from the DR, we were about 2 hours from Haiti. I learned that a lot of people from Haiti come to the DR for a better chance at life. Kinda like how the people from Mexico come to the US for a better chance at life. However, the DR seems so poor and dirty ( unless you are on the resort :) I cant even begin to imagine what Haiti looks like.
Anyways, I am excited to have my box all complete........ it was a challenge for me as I kept seeing things that I would like to put in my box, and I over bought, but managed to get it all in... thank goodness for some great tape :)!! My box is for a girl ages 5-9. Do you think she will like the stuff I am sending her?????



Phew, I got it all in the box..... :) Merry Christmas little girl.....

Happy Veterans Day

I want to take a minute and thank my brother Heath for his work in the ARMY. I have cousins in the military line too. I love you all, and thanks for all that you do for our country!

So...where will you be on New Years Day???

I had to "borrow" that title from a dear friend...

Anyways, I will be in Pasadena, California... at the ROSE BOWL!!! That's right...
I entered a contest at work in which I had to come up with something artistic explaining what donation met to me. I used the story of a dear little boy, Matty who had liver cancer and even though got in remission, he needed a new liver. Matty knew that in order to get a new liver a little kiddo like him had to die. He was scared and did not want that to happen for someone, so he began to say things like.... "If I get to be 5, I want to take a spiderman backpack to school, If I get to be 5, I want a Sponge Bob birthday cake....... he NEVER said when, but rather if... Matty did get his liver and it gave him two extra years at life, unfort his cancer cam back and he had his arm amputated, and then it came back a third and final time in his brain, and he passed away.
Well, his story inspired me and I tell families about Matty all the time. His mother was kind enough ( and I thank her dearly) to send me pictures, I was able to create a story board telling his story. My project went up against 4 others and I unamously won.

SO......... my dear friend Lecia and I will head to Cali on the 29th of Dec, take in all the festivities of the float ( this means perfectally arranging the roses just right ), getting to be a part of the parade, and then the football game!!! Donor Alliance ( my comapany ) is paying for the whole trip!!! This is a huge honor for me and I am super excited. I will update with more details as I get them. For now, Enjoy my favorite shot of Matty, for with out him and his courage and his battle he fought, I would not have this awesome opportunity. Thanks Matty!!! I love and Miss ya!

Final DR update

The final days of our trip were filled with fun as well. We played volleyball, soaked in the sun, looked for a wedding ring in the pool ( one of our friends we met there were on their honeymoon and he lost his ring playing vball ) it was found :) phew!!!!!!!! and just continued to enjoy the company our of new friends. The highlight of the last few days was our trip to Ocean World. This is kind of like a Sea World here. They have shows with the dolphins, sea lions. Then you have the chance to scuba, snorkel, swim with the animals. I decided to take scuba lessons and then I would get one on one time under the water with a dolphin for 45 minutes. Once I was all geard up ( about 70- 80 lbs extra with the weights and tank) I got to go under the water for the first time..... Well, needless to say at about 4 feet, I began to freak out and thought I could not breath, when I was in all honesty doing just fine.... but was just breathing really fast.... I popped up to the top of the water and my instructor was saying I just needed to take deep breaths and that I would be fine. So I tried it again, and again.... after the 4th time, I decided that this was not for me. I could not do it. I was sooo mad at myself, but I just could not do it. My little dolphin buddy was like...... are you not coming to play...

So, Ash had already decided her thing she was going to do was to swim with the sharks and sting rays. They removed the stinger from the sting rays, but kept the teeth on the shark.... hummmm!!! So I decided to join her. Our shark was named Snoopy! She was about 80lbs and was 3 years old. You actually sit on a step in the water and they place the shark on your lap ( the teeth were at my thigh ugggg!!!!!!!!!!!!) Then you get to feed it, and then snorkel with it. Ash asked if she could hold the shark and the guy let her, no one was able to capture that on camera, but I was there, and saw her holding it. My camera unfort ran out of battery byt this little nice lady from the UK took pictures for us and emailed them to us. But we still bought the actual pictures too.

We had to say goodbye to our friends from DC, NY and NJ, all who we miss dearly already. But we will forever have the memories...... all of them.

The last day or so Ash and I began to get sick from either the food or the water ( which we did not personally pr purposfully drink, but they wash everything in that water, including the fruits and veggies ) we took the sickness back to the US, and finally after about a week and some meds for me, We are better and are constantally talking about our wonderful trip :) So glad I was able to share these memories with my little sister!!!

DR update 2

SO you ask what the people there call "friends", let me tell you..... hold on :)
It was out 2nd night there and we all had gotten ready for a show by the ocean and then a "wanna be Vegas show", and if you wanted some time in the casino. Well, after we had our fill on these, we came back to the resort and were hanging out in the lobby, when we spotted some ( what in the US would make us remember the movie Pretty Woman and Julia Roberts character...get it ) girls in the lobby. Then there became a HUGE ruckous ( sp?) at the front desk with 4 men. They were arguing and screaming with the workers about they are not paying anymore money to have quests, it should be their choice if they want to bring a guest to their room etc..... at one point, one of the men went and grabben his video camera and was taping the workers and saying he was going to sue....etc... it was quite the show ( an to be honest it was better than the Vegas wanna be show). Before we knew it the Julia Roberts were escorted out to a van in the valet area and so it got the best of me and one of the other girls I was with, so we decieded to go out to the valet area and just "talk" well we ended up talking to the manager that was on duty of the resort. We were asking him about this situation. He informed us that in the DR the Julia Roberts are called "friends", and that guys all them time pick them up at the casino and try to bring them back to the resort. The "friends" know that they have to stop in the lobby and check in. It was 108.00 a night extra to allow them in the resort ( plus the guys would have to pay them for their duty ) so this is why they are upset. Well, to make a very interesting and long story short, they all left in a van and went to a cheaper hotel. The manager also told us that the normal age for girls to have babies is 13. WOW, I thought the "friends" looked young. How sad.
Throught the week, we would continue to see the guys and wonder if they knew they gave us a great show. To top it all off, on the way back to Miami from the DR it was a full flight and I ended up in the middle seat, and Ash on the window side. It was my lucky day I guess (NOT!) b/c one of the men sat down beside me. He reaked of alcohol and had terriable breathe. It was all I could do to not laugh, at him..... I did ask him his reason for coming to the DR, and he said that he and his buddies were on a wk trip. I asked if they missed their wives ( just wondering, you know how I am) and he said he is the only one NOT married. SO, the other three guys that encountered the "friends" were married. That made my stomach turn...... uggg!!!!!!!! Then he fell asleeep and began to drool.... ugggg!!!! enough of that story, but for the rest of the week we used the term "friend " lightly.

I will attach a few pic of Ash and I parisailing. We had such a great time being 280 feet in the air. It was beautiful clear blue water and sandy white beaches. We hung in the air for about 20 minutes before he "dipped" us in the ocean. It was wonderful and an amazing experience that I am glad I did with Ashley :)

I am back part 1

My trip to the DR was most definately full of memories. We had such a great time and met many wonderful people. It started out a little rocky as we got to Denver airport at midnight to find out our flight had been canceled and we were scheduled to leave at 6 AM, so we picked a little place in the corner of the airport and "camped out" this time actually went by fast as we were making lots and lots of phone calls. I had to get ahold of the resort we were staying at because we now will be missing our connecting flight from Miami to the DR. Things seemed to not be going our way, but we managed to get to Miami eventually, find a great Italian place to eat ( btw, they were actually closed, but opened for us an hour early after hearing how crappy of a day we had, and it was some of the best Italian food ever). We got back to the hotel around 8 and crashed, as I had been on a case the day before we left and didnt get much sleep and Ash was coming back from State Softball and did not sleep either. Needless to say I awoke on my birthday in a not no nice hotel room, but that was quickly changed as I managed to get my birthday drink and meet some great friends when we finally arrived.

The resort had a theme " tell it only to your best friends". Stay tuned for the next post to learn what "friends" in the DR are really..... you wont want to miss this!!!

But before I go, I shall leave you with a sign I am sure you are all farmiliar with..... I could not believe I saw this there. This is just off the beach...