Thursday, July 26, 2012

Monday, July 23, 2012

12:45am and I am restless. I can not seem to turn my brain nor my body off. Also I am sure my 2 hour nap today did not help. I just feel as I'm missing...something...I feel as though God is speaking to me and yet I'm not hearing it. Maybe I should be praying instead of blogging? The thought crossed my mind yet I felt "moved" to start typing the sudden flow of words coming to my mind. Is it the battle of preschool or no preschool? Home school or public school? Finances? Finding our own place? Mostly what keeps coming to my mind is meeting someone new tomorrow. Although the biggest impact seems to be the fact that it's pure excitement. Not that long ago it would have been the complete opposite. Annoyance, shame, embarrassment, and regret probably would have been at the top of the list. Tomorrow I'm going over to my sister house to meet the wife of a couple that moved in close to sister
not too long ago. We met SH (I'm going to call the husband) when he and a friend who is a pastor of a church in JC came out to the house to offer support and whatever they could during dads sickness. They had met my uncle (who lives is Topeka) thru the church. I think it was something like sister churches or something. Anyhow, these 2 complete strangers came out to say they wanted us to know they would be praying for us and if they could help to let them know. Isn't God AMAZING? They were both great guys. If I remember correctly (my post tomorrow may strictly be correcting my mistakes) they both had left their home in Arkansas (one did then the other followed) because they felt called by God to JC Kansas! Isn't God AMAZING? SH (the husband) really seemed to fit in at our home. I think I remember sister saying he made the comment he felt like he was "back home" in our house. He shares
the same love of fishing and hunting as the hubby. He was just in awe of the gator hunting book I showed him of our Florida adventures. (I'll have to remember to post about gator hunting sometime!) The unfortunate part was hubby wasn't home. I just knew him and SH would hit it off. They had that same down home southern good ol' boy way about them. They fact that he was a CHRISTIAN man was even more of an added bonus. We have yet to SH and hubby together. We attended their church one evening and they of course had gone back home to visit. I have wanted to meet SW (the wife) for a long time so my sisters invitation for a play date was met with pure enthusiasm. I can only hope this is just the beginning to many more times of wonderful fellowship. I am excited to have someone else to share faith with! I am eager to learn more about her and her journey. I don't think the poor girl knows
what she has in store for her tomorrow! :) As I said before not that long ago this would not have been my normal response to having a play date with someone "churchy". Don't get me wrong, I grew up going to church but that was about the extent of my relationship with God. Before I would have been uncomfortable and annoyed, trying to pretend that I was a "follower" and a "good Christian" and knew about the Bible. And later would come the guilt, shame, and embarrassment that I was trying to be someone that I wasn't but knew that I should be. I knew I shouldn't have to "pretend", or act like I knew the Bible, but in all reality I had to. I can't say there was a time I ever DIDN'T believe there was a God, but I can say I never really KNEW God until recently. I remember growing up laughing at my cousin that was visiting for having his Bible and reading it every night. I forget now at this
point how many times he had read it front to back. Hindsight is 20/20 they say. If only I had known then that now I would be amazed at his faith. It wasn't until Dad got sick did I actively start seeking the Lord. It wasn't until then that I finally "felt" Him. It wasn't until then that when satan came knocking did I run to God instead of FROM God. Sorry satan, you are fighting a losing battle. No longer do I need your false truths to make me feel better. I found The Truth. It is a definite journey and I stumble and fall flat on my face OFTEN. But for once I can get up, dust my knees off, and know I am perfect in HIS sight. Isn't God AMAZING? A song came on the radio the other day and it just hit home. The chorus says:

Praise God we don't have to hide scars They just strengthen our wounds, and they soften our hearts.
They remind us of where we have been, but not who we are So praise God, praise God we don't have to hide scars

Isn't that beautiful!? Praise God we don't have to hide scars! Or past embarrassment or shame for "pretending" to be
like "churchy" people. I hope you have a wonderful Monday. Mine can't get any better then meeting another "churchy" person.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Life is short

Going to bed last night I could not wait to tell everyone about my fun day yesterday. I even contemplated getting up early before work just to post. I contemplated. Sleep won. I was so excited to tell about the wonderful day I had with my sister. And then I heard the news about Colorado. What a sad day for so many families. Ironic I was excited about my family day as countless families mourn the loss of their loved ones. The sting of losing a loved one still burns fresh on my mind. My heart aches for these families. A senseless sick tragedy. Only one word comes to my mind. satan (he doesn't deserve a capital S). Although my father was not lost thru a senseless tragedy, he fell victim to a senseless disease. One word. satan. So many whys, and what ifs, and countless questions that remain unanswered for me and will probably go unanswered for several others. Such a valuable lesson to be learned. Life is short. God could call you home right this very second. I've always been "teased" a little (especially by my sister who always needs a plan) about my "laid back, life happens, it'll get done sometime, life is short" type of attitude. An attitude I can only say has been magnified in the wake of the "satan disease" my family battled for a little over a year. I can even say now sister is adopting the new attitude. I remember not too long ago expressing my "Life is too short" attitude to a friend. It was about something little, like food or chocolate or something of the sort. (Life is too short not to enjoy chocolate.) I remember her laughing a little a saying "I wouldn't have a job, if I lived by that attitude." I just smiled but I couldn't help but think "we should ALL live by that attitude". Life is SHORT. Enjoy what you can today. Don't take for granted the little moments that could be taken away in a second at any given time. Yes, I completely understand we can't all just quit our jobs and do whatever we'd like for the next 50 years. Yes, I understand we need to "plan" some for the future. But ya know what, I'm gonna live like today could be my last. I'm gonna wear my expensive perfume, my "nice" clothes, eat that extra piece of chocolate, and say I love you way too many times just in case I don't wake up tomorrow, or the next day, or the next. Senseless things like today just remind me why I always try to live by "life is short" and they make days like yesterday all too precious.
Sister sent me an early morning text asking if I needed anything from Mtown. It's a little bit of a drive and us cheap frugal sisters try to keep each other informed of our travels there. I told her I didn't think I needed anything. The big Labor Day celebration is only a few months away and I'd like to have quite a few bows made for the salon. I checked Hobby Lobby and what do you know my bow stuff is 40% off until Saturday! I sent her a hint text telling her about my find and that I needed wanted to pick some stuff up but I wasn't sure what I wanted so I'd probably just run to Stown (it's a little closer for me) and get what I needed. Sister is good. She responsed with Stown could work for me if you want to go together. Umm, duh! She came over and off we went to Stown shopping (of course with 4 kids in tow. Mine and Mikezilla) We had a great little time. The kids were really pretty good.We made it back to meet Josh to pick up sisters CL buy. He's such a good guy. He waited on us 45 minutes after he got off work just to help sister load up her stuff. We joke that we are "sister wives" since people are usually a little confused seeing Josh with the both of us and all the kids. Funny thing is before Josh was in the picture people used to joke that sisters husband must have 2 wives since they always saw me with them. I guess we just like spending time together. I'm gonna have to say they both must be pretty lucky men! ;)  We were just finishing up in Atown when sisters husband sent her a text asking if we could put grandma on babysitting duty and the 4 of us head to the CC rodeo. Grandma said okay so off to CC the 4 of us went. It was one of the best nights we've had in awhile. It was nice to go out as a couple alone (minus kids) and enjoy in some adult conversation and fun .We didn't even get home until 12:30am. I felt like a kid again! I sure do love those two! And I sure hope we start to do it more often. I could go on and on about all the reasons I love having my sister but I'll save that for another post!


Today I had to work. Sister came in (wuhoo more sister time) and got her hair cut and nails painted. Mikey was along for the ride so we painted her nails and "Aunt Nene" got lots of extra lovins. I sure do love that little girl! Tomorrow is work again and then over to a friends house for a little get together. Sister will be there too. We're gonna have lots of time spent together by the end of this week. Although I think it might be a bad thing. It makes me expect the same amount of time to be spent together the next week too.

Time for me to close my eyes. It seems tonight I'm gonna have lots of extra prayers to say. Although some are for healing and comfort, many are praising the many blessing God has so graciously blessed me each and every minute of the day! LOVE!

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Rain!! Enough said! 

Really I should just stop there and go to bed but I just couldn't keep myself away from you! 

Hunters preferred napping position the last few days! (see Friday 13th post) 
 

New cut with new color! (maybe I just like taking pictures of myself) It's "blonde"...well my version of blonde...and can you see the little strip of blue/green/tealish? I put blue on it but that's the color I got! Maybe because it started out lime green? Made a little "oops" when I was doing my color and my purple strip got colored "blonde" instead of dark. Oops! Apparently 7n with 40vol over purple hair makes lime green! Who knew?! But I'm actually happy it happened. I thought I was ready to get rid of my "fun" colors but I'm super happy I have my blue/green/tealish strip! :) 

Tacos, fidel, and homemade salsa were on the menu for tonight. Brother in law and mother in law came out and joined us for a quick visit! Love having Josh's family close. I know it makes Kansas a lot easier on him.

Off to bed I go! Josh has us on an "early" schedule. He gets up at 4:30am on days he works so its just easier on him if we all have an early bedtime! I must say I like it but I'm 2 hours past my bedtime! Love! 

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

I've been MIA for a few days. I've been soaking in every moment I get to spend with the hubs and lil ones. I guess I just didn't stop to share it until now. Nothin too eventful has happened. 

Saturday was spent with family. As always! My niece from emporia came up for the day. The girls asked me 15 million times "is she here yet" until she arrived. They love having "playmates". I didn't get any pictures, probably because I was too busying in the kitchen with my sister. Her and the boys (no Mikezilla) came over to see Izz (and us) so as normal we let the kids lose and enjoyed some sister time. Love my sister time! Everyone left before supper. They sure did miss out! That morning I took those left over meatballs from the last blog (I'm on my phone so I can't do all the fun links and strike thru text) added some meat thru it in the crockpot and made sloppy joes! Yuummm! 

Sunday involved church. Then all of us (me, the kids, mom, sister and her fam) all went to pizza hut. Pretty sure I gained 5 pounds! Then off we went to HELL (aka Walmart). Got home, groceries unloaded then off to the salon I (BY MYSELF) went.  I've been wanting/needing a change for a LONG time now! And hubby (not that I do my hair according to him) has been asking me when I was gonna get rid of all this hair. Yes, he's a weirdo and HATES my long hair.  

This was my inspiration. 


This was after the first cut.

Then we cut some more. I would have sworn I lost 10 pounds. (I didn't, I went home and checked) 

And when I came to work today I cut a little more. I think I have a problem with cutting my own hair . 

I know you are just dying to see it so here's the big reveal! 

Before 


After 


I LOVE that it took me 5 minutes to do my hair this morning. Love it! Oh and hubby really loves it! Now he wants pink blue and purple in it. I have purple "peek-a-boos" right now but apparently thats not enough. Who did I marry?!? :)  

I've come to the conclusion hubby does not want me to be "skinny". It is completely his fault I do not lose weight! :) Has NOTHING to do with the 2nd helping I always end up with! Hubby made fried pork chops for supper sunday night. Hubby's a good cook. Have I mentioned that?! I'm really starting to like this whole blogging about what HE cooks! 

Monday was expensive. Remember those tires I mentioned needing. Yep, we gave in and got them. Ugh! Donations will be accepted at any time! ;) Also got the oil changed and had planned on getting Hubbys tags but we have to wait on the title from Florida. So I guess it wasn't as expensive as planned. Just means some other day will be expensive. *sigh* We had to do some waiting for the oil to be done so we went and ate lunch and did some driving around. I had heard lots of giggling coming from the back but didn't investigate much. Poor Hunter. The girls "painted" him with the dye from there little straw "ornament" from the Mexican restaurant we ate at for lunch. Clever little things they are. 

He didn't seem to mind much! Hubby may soon be  running away with Hunter to try and save the poor kid from us three girls! 
Love! 

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Friday the 13th

Finally friday. Although weekends aren't much different for our family than the rest of the week. Hubby works friday, saturday, Sunday so our weekend is more like monday tuesday. Except I work Tuesday so...I donno. I'll explain our chaos schedules one day. Doesn't that sound like a super exciting blog post?!? It works for us. NO DAYCARE!  Anywho. Different post different day.
J decided she should feed little brother lunch. I was getting stuff prepared to go in the crock pot for supper so it was nice "help". Apparently H was tired and Joslen must of thought he was in need of crackers.

Little stink was limp as a noodle until I tried putting him in his bed. Then he was wide awake screaming! Someone has him a little spoiled! Ehhumm JOSHUA! J likes to use the excuse that H will ONLY take a nap ON him so J has "good" reason to sit and rock (or join the nap) for 3 hours while little one sleeps. Mama doesn't have 3 hours to sit and do "nothing". Although maybe I should start!
This was what I was preparing. (Tiff if you're at work hungry reading again stop now!!)

It looked much better IN the crockpot then this picture. And tasted much better then the pic looks.  BBQ meatballs from scratch. :)  AND
I LOVE corn on the cob! (so do the girls, last time they had 3 pieces. But tonight they asked if they could not eat corn and have more meatballs! They were THAT good. Toot toot! (that was me tooting my own horn) ) It was always the best from my grandpa's garden when he was alive. This is the part I don't really like about corn on the cob.
Today must of been my
lucky Friday the 13th! NO WORMS! I HATE...H.A.T.E....worms!! Especially when you're peeling open corn and surprise! Say hello to my little friend! Blagh! Worms run a pretty close second to snakes and spiders in my world! ok I take that back maybe not that bad but close!
We ran down to cousin C's house who lives just down the road after supper. The trailblazer needs new tires and he had some he thought would work. Guess my luck ran out because they DON'T work! :( Anyone have $800 just laying around?! :) Tires are EEeeexxxpensive! Girls played with K who is just 3 months older then them. They may be trouble in a few years!!! Poor Hunter was forced to play dress up. With me. Sorry son! I really am a good mom. I just like a good laugh. Please forgive me now if you should ever see this in the future.
And don't tell hubby I posted it for EVERYONE to see.
He'd make a pretty girl?!? Love!

Friday, July 13, 2012

Hey Mr. Sandman

I guess since its 1am and I'm NOT sleeping for some reason unbeknownst to me, I thought it was a good idea to post pictures of everyone else sleeping?!? Oh and one of hubby and I from the wedding! Love! 
Oh and no, these are not winter pics. These are recent. Kenna just decided she needed to wear her footy jammies a couple nights ago. Random child.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Delightful Days

Warning! This post might be kinda lengthy with lots of pictures. Sorry! I warned ya. So continue reading under you own risk. I should be mopping, as everyone knows how much I enjoy that...but  I started reading THIS  and THIS and then I had blog envy. So I decided a nice little "break" before I mopped and finished laundry wouldn't hurt.

The last couple of days have been pretty delightful. Sunday started off with church. Well, I went to church. I was a little irritated that hubby wanted to stay in bed. He offered to keep the kids so I stormed off  went to church on my own. Although I was irritated at first, I will admit it was nice. Don't get me wrong I love having my children in church. I want a firm foundation based on a church family for them. But this one time was nice. I sat and enjoyed. I soaked in every word of the Lord. And did it without a crying baby, without an angry 4 year old that screams she has to go potty until the moment I get up to take her (she refused to go on her own) and then she screams that she doesn't have to go while I "quietly" remove us from the sanctuary. Without trying to make sure snacks aren't spilt everywhere, or drinks, or that 4 year olds are whispering quietly. It was nice.

I'm not sure if hubby was trying to"un-irritate" me but not long after I got home I started to smell cooking! Hubby is a GOOD cook. I wish I could be a wife that says "I don't cook" just so I could eat his food all the time. Not that I don't enjoy cooking, I just enjoy his food a lot more! He's one of those people that can just "throw" things together and you have this amazing dish. Yumm! Anyhow he cooked the catfish that him and brother in law caught the night before. Well, actually what BIL caught. Hubby didn't have very good luck. But thank you BIL it was GOOD!

We cleaned up lunch and I was reading a magazine in the living room while the kids were playing when I started to hear clanking from the the kitchen again! Hubby was in the mood to cook I guess?! He made peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. Remember that "sugar junkie" I mentioned. Yeah, cookies are definitely not a good thing to have around me! umm YUMM again!


I decided maybe it was time for me to get a little motivated. So I took the kids into the girls room to put laundry away and help them pick up. Since they sleep upstairs on our floor (that's another story) their bed is usually the catch all for clothes. I finished clothes and as they picked up I snuggled up on the bed and fell into one of my new FREE books on my kindle app on my phone. Big mistake. I couldn't stop! A while later hubby came in and asked me something about tomato puree. HUH?! I was lost in Wildrose, South Dakota with Finn and Rosemary. I put my book phone down for a minute to go into the kitchen to once again find hubby cooking! He was making spaghetti sauce from scratch for supper. I was officially "un-irritated" with him! And let me say one more time YUMMM! Oh and one more time hubby is a good cook! :) It was delightful! :) While sauce was cooking we decided to sit down and watch a movie. Who can turn down a kettle corn opportunity? Hunter very surprisingly sat down and watched with daddy!



I told Josh at first it was just because he had popcorn. A few minutes later we figured out the real reason. He was just tired. LOL He'll be still like this on Dad, but not mom. For some reason he thinks if he's near me he needs to nurse. I don't think I'm ever gonna get this kid weaned.



I think this was before catfish lunch but this was a little sequence of pictures I took of the kids playing. They sure do love each other. I love watching them. It was just too cute (to me anyhow) to pass up posting! Sister was having lunch with the "babies". One baby decided he didn't need "friends"!











Yesterday was lots of fun. Sister had asked me to watch "the Zilla" while her and the boys went to the water park. If you've been around little miss you know why I call her the Zilla. Short for Godzilla. She can destroy a room in 2 seconds flat. Well she used to anyways, she's getting big and not as Zilla-ish. The girls love having Mikezilla over. You can usually count on some drama (3 little girls)! Of course we had to paint nails and the rest of the day was spent singing and playing! They have some favorite songs they learned in Kids Kingdom and I get them on youtube thru the Wii and they just think I'm the coolest smartest mom ever! :) Sorry sis for posting a video of your child on the internet but I couldn't pass it up. And also notice my little T-E-N month old WALKING around. Yep, he's getting around pretty good! *sigh* I know they grow up fast but he seems to be taking that to an extreme!!

Along with walking he is "talking" up a storm! I tried to get him to say "mom" in the first video and as soon as he saw my phone he knew what was going on! I finally got a little bit of it in the second one.




Oh and I can't forget what I found!

This little thing gave me so much grief! You can read that story here.  It was right where I had looked over and over. I just knew it was there. As I was cleaning the desk I thought "hmm, maybe it fell behind." It hadn't fallen it was just pushed all the way to the back so in my frantic looking I just hadn't looked hard enough, or far enough back!

Yep, I have to say the last few days have been pretty.....delightful. Especially since it's no longer 150 110 degrees out...it's a nice "cool" 95 degrees. LOVE!

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Starburst

I'm not very good at thinking of clever little titles for my posts. Usually I think of things AFTER it's posted, or I think of something and think its so cute and then later think really, that wasn't so cute! So today I chose the thing closest to me right now. Starbursts. Hubby went fishing with his brother and girls are in their room aggravating playing with Hunter for the moment. I walked in a few minutes ago. Wait, I take that back, I had to KNOCK. Yes, my 4 year olds have already locked me out of their room. So I knocked, Joslen opened the door a crack and peaked out. Hunter spotted me and started to fuss and Joslen said "sorry mom, he doesn't want you in here so please leave". She pushed me out, shut the door, and I heard the door lock again. Normally I'd probably be a little upset but today I took the opportunity for some blog time! Oh wait, in the few minutes it took me to write that they have come back into the living room. So much for QUIET time but I think I still have some blog time left! Anyways back on track. My point originally was that I was alone so I was scarfing down some Starbursts. I'm a sugar junkie. *sigh* I see no cure in sight! OH well, at least I'm not a REAL junkie! LOL! But literally I'm sure I have a problem. I've eaten probably 20 pieces already. And there's still one left sitting beside me. Oh and this big bag sitting in the kitchen.


Sugar JUNKIE! Off track again. My original intent of this post was to tell you about my Saturday. Last Saturday that is. Man I can't keep up! Last Saturday I got to be part of a beautiful wedding. And by part I mean I got to be the hairstylist. I've done hair for about 7 years now and before that I was doing wedding hair and prom hair for friends and family before I even went to cosmetology school. I love it! I truly have a passion for it. We'll talk about that some other time though. Anyhow, the wedding in one that I'm pretty sure I will NEVER forget. Not necessarily because of how beautiful the bride was,(of course she was stunning) or how amazing the ceremony was, or even how great the food was at the reception. (it was yummy) But mostly because it was one of the worst most stressful days of my career ever. Bride M had asked me to make her a flower for her hair. She wasn't having a veil so she opted for a flower. Except she didn't really find what she liked so we thought we could make her one! In my spare time (mainly BEFORE Hunter was born) I started making bows. It's something I really enjoy. And it's SOOO much cheaper! I'm poor and cheap. So one night M came out to the house and we spent the better part of 2 hours getting what she wanted JUST RIGHT. She wanted a simple hair style and her flower to be the main attraction. A couple days later I sent her this pic of what I had created and her response was "I LOVE IT!"


Wuhoo! Score one for Lenise! She came in a week before the wedding and we did a run thru to get an idea of what we would be doing. After 3 hours I finally got the hair how she wanted. If you want to make a hairstylist work just give her a "simple" hair style to replicate. Simple usually does not mean simple in the hair world. Simple means spending hours trying to figure out how someone else made their hair do look so simple.  But I finally conquered the "simple" hair do and this is what we got.


Looks simple right? *sigh* I took pics from every angle just in case on wedding day I needed a little cheat sheet. We took out her flower and she asked me to keep it and bring it so she didn't have to worry about it on wedding day! NO PROBLEM!

I got all the products and bobby pins rounded up the night before wedding day. I was so proud of myself for being "prepared", something that does not happen too often in my world. I was even ON TIME the next morning for wedding day hair do time! ON TIME is also not generally in my vocab. I started on junior bridesmaid hair and about the time we started talking about the flower going in her hair I got that sick sinking feeling in my stomach. M's FLOWER! I F-O-R-G-O-T it! Oh crap! No worries, my mom to the rescue. I sent her a little text she was on her way from C town to Atown she could swing by the house, get it out of the black bag that I KNEW it was in, and drop it by. Problem solved, I'm no longer the worst hairdresser in the world. Good plan until Mom calls saying "flower is not in the bag and no where to be found in the house" Now I feel the tears fighting to surface and the sick feeling is getting worse. It's at the salon. DUH! I left it there the day we did her run thru! Mom to the rescue! She comes to Atown gets my shop keys, goes back to Ctown, and then will bring it back to Atown. Another great plan until mom calls saying "flower is no where to be found in the salon" WHAT?!?!? This is not a recital, this is not prom, there are no re-dos this is her WEDDING! Officially back to the top of the "worst hairdresser ever" list. I finished the junior bridesmaid and 2 bridesmaids and started on brides hair. At some point I finally broke down and said "I lost your flower".... I wanted to cry or puke...possibly both at the same time. I tore apart my car, mom and brother in law searched the house to no avail. Thank goodness mom was smart enough to bring my tote of craft stuff. So I said "don't worry I'll just make you another one"....I had the rhinestones, the feathers, the clips, only problem was no flower. M swore she wasn't worried. I didn't believe her for a minute. She broke out in hives, I'm sure it was my fault. Worst hairdresser ever. *sigh* To make matters worse her hair WOULD NOT work with me. It did everything possible to make my life even more of a nightmare then what was already unfolding. I probably put it up and took it down 500 times. I finally got it in and it looked almost exactly like run thru and we decided it was too much to one side. So down again it came. Yep, just a simple hair do with a flower. Neither were in my vocab that day! Thank goodness for Atown being a small town. The flower lady said she would see if she had any fresh flowers that were similar to the one I had originally made. She came back with a fake bouquet that she had found with a flower that was pretty darn close to the original! Wedding day SAVED! No longer first on the "worst hairdresser ever list", probably second though. Hair and makeup were finished a few minutes before pictures we supposed to start (on time not in my vocab)  and new flower was placed in wedding hair.  All in all everything turned out just fine! Bride was beautiful, flower was beautiful, wedding was beautiful, and they lived happily ever after.

Pretty close to the original right?! I still get a sick feeling just thinking about that dang flower. It is STILL "lost". No where to be found. But I have to say this. M was wonderful thru the whole thing. Even though I knew she was stressed (hence the hives), she kept reassuring me (or herself) it would be just fine. Not once did she yell or get mad, even though she had every right to hate me at that moment. She was super sweet and grateful for everything I did. She's a truly amazing woman and I was so glad she asked me to be a part of her special day. Her and new hubby are starting their new lives on the west coast. I'm sad to see her leave but excited for her new adventure. They will be back (hubby is in the army) next year sometime. I can't wait! So maybe it's not the "most stressful day of my career" that I'll remember. I'll remember the day that M made me realize that gracious, loving, and truly forgiving people still exist in this world. SHE was my blessing that day!