For the first time since I can remember, I have had no adjustment to get used to writing "2011" on paperwork this year. It usually takes me a good week or two (and at least one check to church with the previous year written on it) before I realize that I'm stuck in last year's number. I know it's a small thing, but I think the fact that I've had such a smooth transition into 2011 is based on a number of bigger things.
2010, while great in some ways, was also very difficult. In the spring 5 people Jack and I knew passed away in a period of 5 weeks. Some were people we saw nearly every day, others we barely ever saw, however losing so many people so quickly made me begin to dread the mornings wondering if that day would be another day when something tragic would happen. My heart still aches and I am still in prayer for those families and friends who have had to spend the rest of 2010 without the special people who left us last year.
In addition to the losses, my dad suffered a stroke this year in May. He is making remarkable progress, but there were definitely a few months of 2010 that were difficult due to that situation and it continues to be a daily struggle for him and my mom. It's a true reminder of how you life can change in an instant and things will never really be the same again.
But good things happened in 2010, also. We were able to go on a wonderful cruise to Alaska with my family. That was definitely an experience I'll never forget. It goes on the list of top vacations EVER. And of course the best news of all has been God's gift to us in the child we're expecting. I've been blessed to have a fairly easy pregnancy so far. I've been feeling good and have loved most of the changes and new experiences that have come with being a newly pregnant woman. I can't believe in just a couple more months I'll be holding her and seeing her face in person.
2011 holds promise to be a wonderful year. I know there will still be sad/difficult moments. God never promised us that life would be easy. But He provides us so much to be joyful about, I hope to focus on those positive moments rather than the negative. I hope 2011 blesses you with God's grace and all the good things in life.
Showing posts with label Memories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Memories. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Thursday, September 17, 2009
A year ago...
A year ago this coming Saturday (9/19/09) will be one year since my uncle (dad's brother) suddenly passed away.
There are some things in life that you don't ever think that you will forget about. I foresee this being one of those situations. It was a Friday morning and Francie and I were getting up early to travel for a weekend get-a-way with my parents and sister. While in the city, I was going to get to see my favorite baseball team play against their chief rivals. It was going to be one of those well deserved, do as little as possible, family vacations. It was also going to be an early celebration of my 30th birthday and my wife and sister had spent months planning the trip not to mention way too much money on the game tickets. However just before we were set to get up, I got a call saying that my uncle was going to the emergency room and that it did not look good.
Now for those that don't know that side of the family, this actually wasn't an unusual event for my uncle. He suffered for many years with multiple diseases, and on more occasions than you or I have fingers and toes he has been at the brink of death and then came back. This time was very different. This time he didn't pull out of it, nor would any human been able to. See my uncle, unknown to anyone, had abdominal aortic aneurysm. The aneurysm burst that Friday morning, and because of this, my uncle passed away in his house, while my aunt was trying to take care of him like she had done for so many years.
Because of my uncle's passing away, we did not make the trip to see my baseball team play. We instead stayed home and were with family. Through the help of many family members and friends I was able to sell the tickets. I was told by my aunt that I could go on to the game that she totally would understand. I didn't care anything about the game. It was just a game. I had lost my uncle. My dad had lost his brother. My grandmother had lost her son. My cousins had lost their father, and my aunt had lost the one that she loved for 35 years.
(A quick side note about my uncle and my aunt. They meet in the same building that I now work in. I walk through the area where they met for the first time nearly every day. It's ironic how life works out and things are so connected.)
The next several days passed so quickly, yet seemed to last forever. I vividly remember certain situations that occurring during the next week or so, wishing that in some ways I could forget them however thankful in other ways that I won’t. We have all moved on over the past year. My cousins went back to their homes in a city about 6 hours away. My aunt continued to live her life. My grandmother has had many ups and downs health wise. So has my dad. There have been many joyful events (buying a house, dad making it through surgery, etc). There have been other sad events (grandmother’s health, etc). However we are all still here and we all still love each other. However Saturday will bring back a lot of feelings for everyone.
So if you don’t mind please say a prayer for my family on Saturday. I don’t know how the day will go. I do know that it will be hard on the entire family, especially since we will not be together. May God bless each and every one of you who read this blog. I pray that you enjoy the time you have with your family, however long or short it may be.
There are some things in life that you don't ever think that you will forget about. I foresee this being one of those situations. It was a Friday morning and Francie and I were getting up early to travel for a weekend get-a-way with my parents and sister. While in the city, I was going to get to see my favorite baseball team play against their chief rivals. It was going to be one of those well deserved, do as little as possible, family vacations. It was also going to be an early celebration of my 30th birthday and my wife and sister had spent months planning the trip not to mention way too much money on the game tickets. However just before we were set to get up, I got a call saying that my uncle was going to the emergency room and that it did not look good.
Now for those that don't know that side of the family, this actually wasn't an unusual event for my uncle. He suffered for many years with multiple diseases, and on more occasions than you or I have fingers and toes he has been at the brink of death and then came back. This time was very different. This time he didn't pull out of it, nor would any human been able to. See my uncle, unknown to anyone, had abdominal aortic aneurysm. The aneurysm burst that Friday morning, and because of this, my uncle passed away in his house, while my aunt was trying to take care of him like she had done for so many years.
Because of my uncle's passing away, we did not make the trip to see my baseball team play. We instead stayed home and were with family. Through the help of many family members and friends I was able to sell the tickets. I was told by my aunt that I could go on to the game that she totally would understand. I didn't care anything about the game. It was just a game. I had lost my uncle. My dad had lost his brother. My grandmother had lost her son. My cousins had lost their father, and my aunt had lost the one that she loved for 35 years.
(A quick side note about my uncle and my aunt. They meet in the same building that I now work in. I walk through the area where they met for the first time nearly every day. It's ironic how life works out and things are so connected.)
The next several days passed so quickly, yet seemed to last forever. I vividly remember certain situations that occurring during the next week or so, wishing that in some ways I could forget them however thankful in other ways that I won’t. We have all moved on over the past year. My cousins went back to their homes in a city about 6 hours away. My aunt continued to live her life. My grandmother has had many ups and downs health wise. So has my dad. There have been many joyful events (buying a house, dad making it through surgery, etc). There have been other sad events (grandmother’s health, etc). However we are all still here and we all still love each other. However Saturday will bring back a lot of feelings for everyone.
So if you don’t mind please say a prayer for my family on Saturday. I don’t know how the day will go. I do know that it will be hard on the entire family, especially since we will not be together. May God bless each and every one of you who read this blog. I pray that you enjoy the time you have with your family, however long or short it may be.
Monday, September 14, 2009
The House: Before and After...
Last night we hosted our first large group in our home. The life group we meet with on Sunday nights from church came to our house for dinner, games, and a devotional lesson. It was a great evening. In preparation, Jack and I cleaned and cleaned so today, as promised, I have pictures of the inside of our house: before and after the renovations! (Please excuse the picture layout. Inserting this many pictures through blogger was more challenging and time consuming than I expected.)
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Now we have a large living room and 18 people sat comfortably around last night during our life group meeting. As you can see, we also have new carpet, paint, window treatments, and light fixtures in this room too. 
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Keep in mind, all of the before pictures were taken before the previous owner was completely moved out so the furniture was moved out when they left.
Let's start with the utility room:
Before:
Notice the green paint, green vinyl valances, and unpainted wood paneling....
After:
Now, it is a utility room so pardon the hangers and slight mess, but notice the beautiful tan and white paint, lovely new valance and new floor. There is also a new light fixture in here but you can't see that from this picture.
Now to the kitchen! Before:
There's that green paint again. And how about those saloon doors?
After:
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So the changes in here include painted cabinets, new hardware, new light fixtures (again not pictured), new floors, new window treatments, new blinds, and new paint.
Some of the biggest changes occurred in the living room. So...here is the before:
The living room was originally two rooms: a den and formal living room. The formal living room was red with white carpet and a flowery border that was triple-glued (rrrrrgh)! The den was green (again) paneling and because of the fireplace the room was very narrow and offered few options for furniture set-up. So...we began to think about taking down the wall between the two rooms and creating one large living room for ourselves.
After:
Now we have a large living room and 18 people sat comfortably around last night during our life group meeting. As you can see, we also have new carpet, paint, window treatments, and light fixtures in this room too.
Guest bedroom and guest bathroom. Before:
The guest bathroom had gold lantern light fixtures that cast a yellow light all over the room, not to mention that they were hung low in mirror. Furthermore, there was no shower in the guest bathroom, just the (wonderful) jacuzzi tub. The guest bedroom was fine. The biggest problem with it was a ceiling fan that was improperly hung and no carpet. (Jack and I like carpet...don't judge us.)
After:
In the guest bathroom, we changed light fixtures, added a vent/light fixture, added the shower and marble around the jacuzzi tub, painted, and put in a new toilet. In the guest bedroom, we painted, added carpet, and changed the light fixture.
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Finally, our bedroom and bathroom. Before:
Our bedroom had wall paper and no carpet. Our bathroom was green (again) and the shower tiles were falling off the walls. We ended up having to take the shower completely out and re-doing the entire thing. That was one of the largest projects we tackled.
After:
In our bedroom we added carpet, painted (after stripping wallpaper), changed the light fixture, and bought new bedroom furniture (which I love!). In the bathroom, we painted and completely gutted and changed out the shower. We put in marble instead of tile. Hopefully it will serve us well for years to come.
There are other rooms in the house not pictured here (the dining room, office, garage, and outside storage building) but these are the ones that are 1. clean and 2. the most changed. This project took up a large part of our summer and we are very thankful to our wonderful family who helped us with all the work and also friends and family who helped us move.
We feel truly blessed to be in our home. It is great for us and we have learned alot from the renovations (as you may have read if you keep up with this blog). Thanks for your prayers and support!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Welcome to the start of school!!!
Our loyal fans may be wondering where the heck we have been!!! It's over two weeks since we last posted!!! It's amazing the earth hasn't split open and swallowed all of us whole!!
I can best sum up where we have been in just a six words....one short sentence. But first a story...
I was mowing the other day for dad (who by the way is recovering nicely), and I got a call on my cell phone. I didn't fully recognise the number (aka it wasn't a number that I had pre-programmed into my phone), however did think that the number looked familiar. So I turned off the mower and answered the phone. It was the nursing home that my grandmother is now staying in. It took several minutes of me saying "Hello!?!" to get someone to talk to me. It was Granny and the first words out of her mouth was, "You are alive!"
My response, and also my response to those who may be wondering where we have been, was....
"WELCOME TO THE START OF SCHOOL!!!!"
Seriously.....that was my response! :) I love my Granny, but one of the things that is weird is that some of our family members are having trouble realizing that for the rest of our natural lives come August , SCHOOL STARTS!! and with school starting, our lives get extremely crazy. However, things are starting to slow down a bit, so hopefully I'll be able to go visit Granny more often in the next several weeks.
Hope everyone else is doing well.
Jack
P.S. The phone conversation with Granny was good and we got to talk for a few minutes (I wasn't nearly as straight forward as I immediately was :)). I did get a chance to visit her a few days later, and it was good to see her.
I can best sum up where we have been in just a six words....one short sentence. But first a story...
I was mowing the other day for dad (who by the way is recovering nicely), and I got a call on my cell phone. I didn't fully recognise the number (aka it wasn't a number that I had pre-programmed into my phone), however did think that the number looked familiar. So I turned off the mower and answered the phone. It was the nursing home that my grandmother is now staying in. It took several minutes of me saying "Hello!?!" to get someone to talk to me. It was Granny and the first words out of her mouth was, "You are alive!"
My response, and also my response to those who may be wondering where we have been, was....
"WELCOME TO THE START OF SCHOOL!!!!"
Seriously.....that was my response! :) I love my Granny, but one of the things that is weird is that some of our family members are having trouble realizing that for the rest of our natural lives come August , SCHOOL STARTS!! and with school starting, our lives get extremely crazy. However, things are starting to slow down a bit, so hopefully I'll be able to go visit Granny more often in the next several weeks.
Hope everyone else is doing well.
Jack
P.S. The phone conversation with Granny was good and we got to talk for a few minutes (I wasn't nearly as straight forward as I immediately was :)). I did get a chance to visit her a few days later, and it was good to see her.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Update on Dad
For many of you that know us personally, we have tried to keep you up-to-date on dad's progress through other outlets. However, for those that don't have access to those other outlets below is a synopsis of the updates.
Aug 7
3:26 PM
they just took dad back. Surgery should be about 4 hrs. More later......
5:24 PM
surgery actually started at 4:15 pm. 5:15 update said that things were going well. Next update should occur around 6:15 with surgery ending around 7:15.
6:28 PM
surgery still going on and progressing. They say he is "doing well". Hopefully next update will be around 7:15 pm.
7:37 PM
survey went VERY well. Took kidney, tumor, and a few Lymph nodes for Pathology to look at. Results not till Wed of next week. Thanks for the prayers everyone. Still not completely out of woods but happy to hear the surgery went well.
Aug 8
8:57 AM
long night last night. He didn't sleep good because of the pain. Doctors have been in and are going to work on the pain. Overall in good shape, woke up from surgery wanting something to eat!! :-)
5:24 PM
It's nearly 5:30. The Dr's have been in twice today. Overall doing pretty good, but a lot of pain. He's went to the restroom, walked, and continuing to eat (however only liquids). The pain is the big thing we are dealing with because when he coughs it's extremely painful. Not going home today, and I'm not thinking that tomorrow he will be leavingeven if he is released. Thanks 4 everything!
9:11PM
A very rough day today with a lot of pain and other issues. Very unlikely to get out tomorrow.
Aug 9
2:53 PM
He is going to be dismissed today. We are not very excited about this, but going to deal with it the best we can. He has an appt Tues to follow up the health issue we had yesterday. Because of this appt, he is going to stay in town till Tues. Overall in good shape. Very tired and still in some moderate pain, but overall he is doing good.
8:03 PM
we have been dismissed and are at a hotel downtown. Call if you need the info. Still a lot of pain and slow moving. Thanks for the prayers. They really mean a lot.
Aug 10
10:57 AM
he is doing much better today. He is getting around by himself, eating more, and looking better. We are headed back to home, but dad and mom are staying for the appt tomorrow. Updates will be slower but still as much as possible.
Aug 12
hopefully will come home today. Doctor's appt yesterday went pretty good. Not 100% of what we were hoping for, however overall good news. Expect test results on tumor today or tomorrow.
Aug 13
Tumor on kidney was cancer, however tissue around cancer was clean and lymph nodes were also clean of cancer!! Therefore dad is cancer free!! YAY!!! Thank you God for this blessing! Dad is still moving slow but doing well especially after this WONDERFUL NEWS!! THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PRAYERS! This is truly answered prayers.
As you can tell it was a long week, however it ended well. While dad did have cancer, the cancer was contained and was totally removed during the surgery. We are very excited about the news about the cancer, and are thankful to the Lord for this blessing. Dad continues to recoop, however is doing well overall. Now we just have to get over the surgery.
While this media will not reach everyone that we know, and neither will the other media that we have been using, we want everyone to know just how much we appreciate all of the prayers, calls, questions, and concern expressed to both Francie and myself during the past several days. We are so blessed to have a loving earthly family, spiritual family, and friends who care so much about us and my dad.
Aug 7
3:26 PM
they just took dad back. Surgery should be about 4 hrs. More later......
5:24 PM
surgery actually started at 4:15 pm. 5:15 update said that things were going well. Next update should occur around 6:15 with surgery ending around 7:15.
6:28 PM
surgery still going on and progressing. They say he is "doing well". Hopefully next update will be around 7:15 pm.
7:37 PM
survey went VERY well. Took kidney, tumor, and a few Lymph nodes for Pathology to look at. Results not till Wed of next week. Thanks for the prayers everyone. Still not completely out of woods but happy to hear the surgery went well.
Aug 8
8:57 AM
long night last night. He didn't sleep good because of the pain. Doctors have been in and are going to work on the pain. Overall in good shape, woke up from surgery wanting something to eat!! :-)
5:24 PM
It's nearly 5:30. The Dr's have been in twice today. Overall doing pretty good, but a lot of pain. He's went to the restroom, walked, and continuing to eat (however only liquids). The pain is the big thing we are dealing with because when he coughs it's extremely painful. Not going home today, and I'm not thinking that tomorrow he will be leaving
9:11PM
A very rough day today with a lot of pain and other issues. Very unlikely to get out tomorrow.
Aug 9
2:53 PM
He is going to be dismissed today. We are not very excited about this, but going to deal with it the best we can. He has an appt Tues to follow up the health issue we had yesterday. Because of this appt, he is going to stay in town till Tues. Overall in good shape. Very tired and still in some moderate pain, but overall he is doing good.
8:03 PM
we have been dismissed and are at a hotel downtown. Call if you need the info. Still a lot of pain and slow moving. Thanks for the prayers. They really mean a lot.
Aug 10
10:57 AM
he is doing much better today. He is getting around by himself, eating more, and looking better. We are headed back to home, but dad and mom are staying for the appt tomorrow. Updates will be slower but still as much as possible.
Aug 12
hopefully will come home today. Doctor's appt yesterday went pretty good. Not 100% of what we were hoping for, however overall good news. Expect test results on tumor today or tomorrow.
Aug 13
Tumor on kidney was cancer, however tissue around cancer was clean and lymph nodes were also clean of cancer!! Therefore dad is cancer free!! YAY!!! Thank you God for this blessing! Dad is still moving slow but doing well especially after this WONDERFUL NEWS!! THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PRAYERS! This is truly answered prayers.
As you can tell it was a long week, however it ended well. While dad did have cancer, the cancer was contained and was totally removed during the surgery. We are very excited about the news about the cancer, and are thankful to the Lord for this blessing. Dad continues to recoop, however is doing well overall. Now we just have to get over the surgery.
While this media will not reach everyone that we know, and neither will the other media that we have been using, we want everyone to know just how much we appreciate all of the prayers, calls, questions, and concern expressed to both Francie and myself during the past several days. We are so blessed to have a loving earthly family, spiritual family, and friends who care so much about us and my dad.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Finally moved in....kinda!
Well this past weekend was a big weekend for our family. On Saturday we moved the rest of the stuff from the house we were renting to our new house. There are still somethings in the garage at the old place and the house needs to be cleaned before we turn it back over to the family member we were renting it from. However, for all practical purposes we are totally in our new house!!! YAY!!! Nearly 3 months after we took possesion, we are finally living in OUR house. It's kinda weird though. For the first time I can remember, I kept myself awake last night (not for too terribly long) worrying about everything else that has to be done. AUGH!!!! We haven't even unboxed everything....heck we haven't even unboxed 70% of our stuff, but I'm already worried and thinking about what has to be done NEXT!! DANG IT!
However, I eventually fell asleep and everything that needs to be done will eventually get done. God will provide. While I had a moment I wanted to stop and thank EVERYONE for helping (physically or financially) us during this process. I would try to name those that helped, however I am affraid that I would leave someone out. To everyone that did help we owe you a huge debt of gratitude. Without your help we would not be in the house as early as we were. Heck we may not be in the house at Christmas if it was just us working on it!!
Again thanks for keeping up with us on this blog. We hope that you have enjoyed the frustrations, joys, and lessons learned during the process of getting the house done. More will come as we work on the other projects that are keeping me up at night! ;)
However, I eventually fell asleep and everything that needs to be done will eventually get done. God will provide. While I had a moment I wanted to stop and thank EVERYONE for helping (physically or financially) us during this process. I would try to name those that helped, however I am affraid that I would leave someone out. To everyone that did help we owe you a huge debt of gratitude. Without your help we would not be in the house as early as we were. Heck we may not be in the house at Christmas if it was just us working on it!!
Again thanks for keeping up with us on this blog. We hope that you have enjoyed the frustrations, joys, and lessons learned during the process of getting the house done. More will come as we work on the other projects that are keeping me up at night! ;)
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Here a year...
It hit us this past weekend that we have been in the town that we now live in for a whole year (Saturday, June 20th was actually exactly one year). It's amazing how things change and yet how things stay the same. When we left the town we were living in we were very excited about moving, while at the same time very sad about leaving some of our dear friends behind. But here we are a year later and it's funny how things have changed. We are glad to be moving where we were, but as the saying goes "You can never move back 'home'." How true this has been. We are excited about being close to family, however this presents unique challenges (in SO many ways). We are excited about our jobs, however this past year has been very, very, very stressful on both of us (and unfortunately this doesn't look to be getting any better). We are excited about working with a ministry that has a leader and a church that strongly supports it, however the "perfect" situation really isn't all that "perfect". We are excited about buying a house, but the jobs that we (and everyone else) think that we should do before we move-in never seem to cease. We miss our lives in the town we left. We really miss some of the people we left. We miss the smiling faces of the students we left.
Will the other saying of "time heals all wounds" fix these problems that we seem to have? Who knows. Stay tuned! ;)
Will the other saying of "time heals all wounds" fix these problems that we seem to have? Who knows. Stay tuned! ;)
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Christmas & New Years
Well it's Saturday, Jan 3th at 11:30 PM. My vacation for all intensive purposes is over. My employer gave us 2 weeks off this holiday season in order to try to save some money in energy costs, and also to give the employees a small token of a gift since we didn't give cost of living pay raises this year.
I personally really enjoyed the time off. To say that it's been a extremely stressful semester would be an understatement. Anyone who has moved, had both spouses start new jobs with huge projects demanding your time in the first 2 months of employment, a death in the family, and another family member having major health issues would totally understand. But please understand I'm not trying to complain or seek sympathy from anyone, but pointing out how stressful the last half of 2008 had been. However like I said, I was sure glad that I got the time off.
Since Fran also had the time off we used the time to visit old friends, spend some time with family, and just lay around the house and relax. Here are some of the stories of what we did.
Dinner out - we took the opportunity to eat dinner with some old friends (Michael & Lacy) from a town that we previously lived in. We went and ate at a popular restaurant that is famous for a special meat dish. This restaurant also has their complex decorated to the nines with Christmas lights. This is also the place where I asked Francie to marry me. It was nice to get to spend some time with old friends and celebrate personal accomplishments with each family. The accomplished that were celebrated were: Francie & I celebrated Christmas, Fran's graduation, both of us getting jobs, our 5 year anniversary, and us moving to the town we live in now. Michael & Lacy were celebrating both of them graduating, their 5 year wedding anniversary, them buying a house, and both of them starting new jobs. We had a wonderful time and miss spending time with them like we use to. Hopefully now that we live 1 hour away instead of 5 hours away we can get together more often.
Shopping - Francie did some shopping during the break as well. This actually was a huge blessing because we didn't have all of our Christmas shopping done. Two FULL days later and several hundreds of dollars, the she was able to finish up the Christmas shopping and also spend some quality time with her mom, aunt, and grandmother.
Christmas Eve - Christmas Eve can be a stressful time for the two of us. Both sides of the family celebrate Christmas on the same day and usually at the same time. We have been blessed since we have been married that both families have been flexible to adjust the time so that we can spend more time with each side. However it's still a very busy evening and makes us feel rushed in trying to get everything crammed into 3 hours or so per family. Things may change in the future regarding this as the families get older and bigger and certain members pass on, however for now it is a very busy night.
This year we started with my family first. My mom's family gets together and everyone eats a pot-luck meal (as good, if not better, than a country church pot-luck meal). After dinner presents are usually opened. We didn't get to stay for most of the presents being opened, however did manage to stay for the big present for Granny H. The cousins went together and got Granny a 15" digital picture frame for Christmas. She had been using her laptop (Christmas present last year from her kids) as a glorified digital picture frame, so this year in trying to keep her laptop working as long as possible; the cousins went in together and got her the real thing. She really likes the present and I hope that is provides her hours and hours of joy. Another present that Granny got was a popcorn popper. Back in the mid-70's several of Granny's kids were getting married. One summer three out of the six kids were married within 6 months of each other. Shortly after that Poppy (mom's dad) said that kids were going to start popping up like popcorn, and sure enough it happened. 30 years later a lot of the next generation is starting to have kids. So one of my cousins got Granny a popcorn popper. It was a very touching tribute and gesture by my cousin and I hope that Granny enjoys.
After spending time with my family we drove the 15 minutes to Francie's aunt's house for Christmas with Fran's family. They had already eaten dinner so once we got there we opened presents. We are a very blessed family and really fooled Santa this year by the amount of gifts that we both received.
Christmas Day - Christmas day we also have to split the time with each family. However unlike years past when we drove in for Christmas, this year we were able to sleep in our OWN BED!!! It was soooo nice to be able to get a good night's sleep in your own bed during the Christmas rush. We started Christmas morning with my parents opening presents with my parents, my sister, and us. After all of the presents were opened we enjoyed a full breakfast that mom, my sister, and Francie cooked. We were able to get Granny D (dad's mom) to come up for the opening of the presents, however due to not feeling good she wasn't able to stay for breakfast. Again we are a very blessed family and really fooled Santa this year by the amount of gifts that we both received.
After opening presents and breakfast we went to Fran's grandmother's for lunch. No presents were exchanged but apparently Santa made a stop by Nana's house and left something for us on their tree. :)
Doctor's appts - we also was able to take care of some medical stuff during the break. Both Francie & I had some tests ran (nothing major just making sure a couple of things are the way they are suppose to be), and I had a follow up visit with an allergy doctor. All in all we are in good health and pray that God will help us continue to be this way for many, many, many more decades.
Baby visiting - Over the last month we know of four couples (yes FOUR couples) who had babies. Three of the four were babies of my cousin's and we were able to visit two of them during the break. The fourth was a child of some friends from church. We were also able to see him while still in the hospital. All parties involved are happy, healthy, and doing well.
Birthday celebrations - we were able to take the opportunity during the break to celebrate Fran's step-grandfather's b-day. He and Fran's grandmother will have been married 8 years (on 1/8/09) and I know that the family is happy that he is in our lives.
New Year's Eve - This year we really didn't have any major plans for New Year's Eve. In years past we would go downtown to a festival that was held in the town that we lived in. The town that we now live in doesn't have any of these celebrations so it's an every-man-for-himself type situation. The church that we attend did end up having services NYE (New Year's Eve) and after attending that we had a late dinner with the campus minister and some friends. Afterwards we went back to the campus house and played games till the ball dropped. After watching two stupid morons perform Evil Knievel type stunts and watching the ball drop, we continued to play games until about 2 AM.
Work - Yes, even though I was off from work I did have to work some. However, the work that I had to do was regarding my private consulting work. There were a few issues at the church that we attend that I had to take care of, and another issue at the campus ministry house that the church supports. I also did some work on a computer that Fran's mom gave us since she wasn't using it any longer. I was also able to use some money I got for Christmas to upgrade the computer slightly, however that stuff hasn't come in yet. :S
Rest - Believe it or not we did get some much needed rest. Both weekends in the break Francie & I spent the day in the house, in our pajamas, and enjoying the avoidance of the stressful life outside the four walls of the house. It was nice to get some much needed rest and sleep for both of us.
Fun times - Francie & I also did some fun things during the break. We were able to go to have a date (we saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, went out to eat, and then went grocery shopping). This was our typical date nights where we lived previously while Fran was getting her PhD. Having a "Jack and Fran date night" was really nice because it brought back some good memories of our previous lives in another town. We also bought a board game and have been playing that. We got the idea from Nana & Bob as they love to play Scrabble. However because I can't spell AT ALL, we decided to go with a game that didn't require spelling but did present some mental thought.....MONOPOLY!!! So far we have played 4 games and I'm ahead 3-1, but whose counting.....right! ;) HAHAHA
Overall it has been a very busy break, but at the same time a very relaxing break. Monday will start the new year for the two of us from any employment sense, and the list of things to do at work are long. However with God's help and some patience on our part we will get everything done.
I hope that each and everyone of you had a wonderful holiday break (no matter how long it was) and that you were able to rest, relax, spend some time with family and friends, and take care of some personal issues just like Francie & I were blessed to have the opportunity to do.
Love to all,
Jack
I personally really enjoyed the time off. To say that it's been a extremely stressful semester would be an understatement. Anyone who has moved, had both spouses start new jobs with huge projects demanding your time in the first 2 months of employment, a death in the family, and another family member having major health issues would totally understand. But please understand I'm not trying to complain or seek sympathy from anyone, but pointing out how stressful the last half of 2008 had been. However like I said, I was sure glad that I got the time off.
Since Fran also had the time off we used the time to visit old friends, spend some time with family, and just lay around the house and relax. Here are some of the stories of what we did.
Dinner out - we took the opportunity to eat dinner with some old friends (Michael & Lacy) from a town that we previously lived in. We went and ate at a popular restaurant that is famous for a special meat dish. This restaurant also has their complex decorated to the nines with Christmas lights. This is also the place where I asked Francie to marry me. It was nice to get to spend some time with old friends and celebrate personal accomplishments with each family. The accomplished that were celebrated were: Francie & I celebrated Christmas, Fran's graduation, both of us getting jobs, our 5 year anniversary, and us moving to the town we live in now. Michael & Lacy were celebrating both of them graduating, their 5 year wedding anniversary, them buying a house, and both of them starting new jobs. We had a wonderful time and miss spending time with them like we use to. Hopefully now that we live 1 hour away instead of 5 hours away we can get together more often.
Shopping - Francie did some shopping during the break as well. This actually was a huge blessing because we didn't have all of our Christmas shopping done. Two FULL days later and several hundreds of dollars, the she was able to finish up the Christmas shopping and also spend some quality time with her mom, aunt, and grandmother.
Christmas Eve - Christmas Eve can be a stressful time for the two of us. Both sides of the family celebrate Christmas on the same day and usually at the same time. We have been blessed since we have been married that both families have been flexible to adjust the time so that we can spend more time with each side. However it's still a very busy evening and makes us feel rushed in trying to get everything crammed into 3 hours or so per family. Things may change in the future regarding this as the families get older and bigger and certain members pass on, however for now it is a very busy night.
This year we started with my family first. My mom's family gets together and everyone eats a pot-luck meal (as good, if not better, than a country church pot-luck meal). After dinner presents are usually opened. We didn't get to stay for most of the presents being opened, however did manage to stay for the big present for Granny H. The cousins went together and got Granny a 15" digital picture frame for Christmas. She had been using her laptop (Christmas present last year from her kids) as a glorified digital picture frame, so this year in trying to keep her laptop working as long as possible; the cousins went in together and got her the real thing. She really likes the present and I hope that is provides her hours and hours of joy. Another present that Granny got was a popcorn popper. Back in the mid-70's several of Granny's kids were getting married. One summer three out of the six kids were married within 6 months of each other. Shortly after that Poppy (mom's dad) said that kids were going to start popping up like popcorn, and sure enough it happened. 30 years later a lot of the next generation is starting to have kids. So one of my cousins got Granny a popcorn popper. It was a very touching tribute and gesture by my cousin and I hope that Granny enjoys.
After spending time with my family we drove the 15 minutes to Francie's aunt's house for Christmas with Fran's family. They had already eaten dinner so once we got there we opened presents. We are a very blessed family and really fooled Santa this year by the amount of gifts that we both received.
Christmas Day - Christmas day we also have to split the time with each family. However unlike years past when we drove in for Christmas, this year we were able to sleep in our OWN BED!!! It was soooo nice to be able to get a good night's sleep in your own bed during the Christmas rush. We started Christmas morning with my parents opening presents with my parents, my sister, and us. After all of the presents were opened we enjoyed a full breakfast that mom, my sister, and Francie cooked. We were able to get Granny D (dad's mom) to come up for the opening of the presents, however due to not feeling good she wasn't able to stay for breakfast. Again we are a very blessed family and really fooled Santa this year by the amount of gifts that we both received.
After opening presents and breakfast we went to Fran's grandmother's for lunch. No presents were exchanged but apparently Santa made a stop by Nana's house and left something for us on their tree. :)
Doctor's appts - we also was able to take care of some medical stuff during the break. Both Francie & I had some tests ran (nothing major just making sure a couple of things are the way they are suppose to be), and I had a follow up visit with an allergy doctor. All in all we are in good health and pray that God will help us continue to be this way for many, many, many more decades.
Baby visiting - Over the last month we know of four couples (yes FOUR couples) who had babies. Three of the four were babies of my cousin's and we were able to visit two of them during the break. The fourth was a child of some friends from church. We were also able to see him while still in the hospital. All parties involved are happy, healthy, and doing well.
Birthday celebrations - we were able to take the opportunity during the break to celebrate Fran's step-grandfather's b-day. He and Fran's grandmother will have been married 8 years (on 1/8/09) and I know that the family is happy that he is in our lives.
New Year's Eve - This year we really didn't have any major plans for New Year's Eve. In years past we would go downtown to a festival that was held in the town that we lived in. The town that we now live in doesn't have any of these celebrations so it's an every-man-for-himself type situation. The church that we attend did end up having services NYE (New Year's Eve) and after attending that we had a late dinner with the campus minister and some friends. Afterwards we went back to the campus house and played games till the ball dropped. After watching two stupid morons perform Evil Knievel type stunts and watching the ball drop, we continued to play games until about 2 AM.
Work - Yes, even though I was off from work I did have to work some. However, the work that I had to do was regarding my private consulting work. There were a few issues at the church that we attend that I had to take care of, and another issue at the campus ministry house that the church supports. I also did some work on a computer that Fran's mom gave us since she wasn't using it any longer. I was also able to use some money I got for Christmas to upgrade the computer slightly, however that stuff hasn't come in yet. :S
Rest - Believe it or not we did get some much needed rest. Both weekends in the break Francie & I spent the day in the house, in our pajamas, and enjoying the avoidance of the stressful life outside the four walls of the house. It was nice to get some much needed rest and sleep for both of us.
Fun times - Francie & I also did some fun things during the break. We were able to go to have a date (we saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, went out to eat, and then went grocery shopping). This was our typical date nights where we lived previously while Fran was getting her PhD. Having a "Jack and Fran date night" was really nice because it brought back some good memories of our previous lives in another town. We also bought a board game and have been playing that. We got the idea from Nana & Bob as they love to play Scrabble. However because I can't spell AT ALL, we decided to go with a game that didn't require spelling but did present some mental thought.....MONOPOLY!!! So far we have played 4 games and I'm ahead 3-1, but whose counting.....right! ;) HAHAHA
Overall it has been a very busy break, but at the same time a very relaxing break. Monday will start the new year for the two of us from any employment sense, and the list of things to do at work are long. However with God's help and some patience on our part we will get everything done.
I hope that each and everyone of you had a wonderful holiday break (no matter how long it was) and that you were able to rest, relax, spend some time with family and friends, and take care of some personal issues just like Francie & I were blessed to have the opportunity to do.
Love to all,
Jack
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Merry Christmas
It's funny how Christmas makes you reflect on the past. We have dedicated our Christmas tree to sentimental, meaningful ornaments which means that each one tells a story and reminds me of something. I could stare at it for hours.
My life has been filled with many Christmas memories, both good and bad. I remember waking up as a small child to find Santa's presents in my grandmother's living room floor. One year (when I was 7) I received a doll house that you had to put together. Santa's elves had brought it to me unassembled and by 7am, it was done! I remember being so proud of myself for putting it all together alone. I also remember being in the hotel in Memphis when my grandfather was in the hospital with his heart problems. Mom went to the hospital gift shop just after it closed and convinced the clerk to let her in to buy a little Christmas tree for our hotel room. I was 13 and I was so sad that my grandaddy was sick and we weren't home for Christmas.
This year is one of mixed blessings for our family and it's difficult sometimes to wrap my mind around. I pray that as you enjoy the next few days-- eating big meals, opening gifts, and thanking God for the birth of his Son-- that you have some memories to look back on. Merry Christmas. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and give you peace.
My life has been filled with many Christmas memories, both good and bad. I remember waking up as a small child to find Santa's presents in my grandmother's living room floor. One year (when I was 7) I received a doll house that you had to put together. Santa's elves had brought it to me unassembled and by 7am, it was done! I remember being so proud of myself for putting it all together alone. I also remember being in the hotel in Memphis when my grandfather was in the hospital with his heart problems. Mom went to the hospital gift shop just after it closed and convinced the clerk to let her in to buy a little Christmas tree for our hotel room. I was 13 and I was so sad that my grandaddy was sick and we weren't home for Christmas.
This year is one of mixed blessings for our family and it's difficult sometimes to wrap my mind around. I pray that as you enjoy the next few days-- eating big meals, opening gifts, and thanking God for the birth of his Son-- that you have some memories to look back on. Merry Christmas. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and give you peace.
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