Never, Ever will I be a truck driver!!

Time for an update!!

My life here recently has been spent on the road. I am starting to think that I probably should not have moved 8 hours away from my doctors! With the surgery just around the corner I am having tons of doctors appointments which mean I am constantly driving. In the past two weeks I have driven nearly 2 thousand miles and still have at least two more trips prior to actually having surgery. So needless to say, as the title states, truck driving will never be my profession!

As for what is going on with the surgery: I still don't have a date. I am in the pre-surgery doctor appt phase of it all. Two weeks ago I came down and met with my second surgeon. She was great and asked a lot of questions. After I told her how I came to the weight that I am at now, she decided to take my case in front of a medical board. I guess each month a huge group of doctors get together at Scott and White and discuss the cases they have. So that is happening at the end of the month. She invited me to join, but I'm not sure I will. It's kind of exciting to know that I will have a huge group of doctors who specialize in all different fields of medicine looking through my file and seeing if they can figure out what is wrong with me, but then again it is kind of nerve wrecking too. It took me two years to really decide to have surgery and now that I have made this decision I am somewhat nervous that they will decide not to go forward with the surgery. But then again it all goes back to God's plan and trusting in that plan. However, if I do still have the surgery I will have at least two more doctor appts at the end of the month and then hopefully by either the first or second week of March I will be having surgery. So only time will tell but I should know more in the next few weeks. I am currently down in Temple for another doctor appt. I had to have 7 viles of blood taken yesterday but I had an amazing phlebotomist so I can't complain. It's sad that I get exited when I have a good phlebotomist but unfortunately I have had some really bad ones!!!

As for the house, mom and I can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel!! We have almost everything done except carpet. Mom is amazing and was able to lay the bathroom tile in both bathrooms and she did an amazing job!!! Both of them look so good and it did amazing things for the house! We are both pretty excited about how things have turned out. Granny, "G," wont stop asking mom to come down and see it but we want to be 100% done before she sees it.

So that is what is happening currently. I will continue to keep y'all posted on what is going on!!!

Oh the Holidays!

So it's been a while since I've updated...so I thought I would take some time to do that.

I feel like so much has been going on but then it's almost like a whole lot of nothing has been going on at the same time.

I went to Temple a few weeks ago to meet with my surgeon. He is pretty amazing and through lots of conversation and a billion questions from my end he was able to take a lot of the fears that I had away and now I'm pretty excited about it. I will find out in the next week or so when exactly I will be having the surgery. So please just keep me in your prayers.

My body has decided to act kind of normal again. I have lost some weight since moving up to the panhandle. It is awesome and I'm not sure exactly what has changed but it's still exciting. Last night I was at dinner with my cousin and his wife and she asked me if it made me frustrated that now that I am about to have the surgery that I'm finally starting to lose weight and I laughed a bit. When I really think about it, it can be somewhat frustrating but at the same time God has a plan and if I continue to lose the weight at the rate I have been then there wont be a need for the surgery and I will trust that is part of God's plan. So we will see what happens in the next few months!!

Other then that I was able to spend both Thanksgiving and Christmas with my wonderful family. Seeing how we missed out on that last year it was pretty exciting for me. I have to say I have a pretty amazingly awesome family and I really enjoy spending time with them. My cousin Jody and his wife Ruth (who also lived in Korea at the same time we did) are down for the week. I haven't seen them in over a year and so it's just super exciting spending time with them. Ruth thinks I need to move up to CO where they are but I am kind of a fan of Texas..haha. So yay for the holidays and family time!


Sam is good. He is still ready to be home but from what I know it's just overall pretty boring over there. He is planning on coming back to the States for R&R around April. I think he is planning on going out to CA to visit his brother Nathan who will be deploying with the Marines in May. So that will be good for the both of them to see each other before Nathan leaves.

As for the house construction..it is going slowlyyyyyyyyyyy! I have had issues with having someone put tile in the bathrooms which has halted to new carpet. I am so ready for it to be done. I am quickly learning that a life of house flipping is not in my future!!

Well that is all that is really going on. I am watching the snow fall pretty heavily and I love it!! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and may your new year be filled with all the wonderful things God has planned for you!!

Ahhh..the Texas Panhandle!! :)

So I am officially living back in the Texas Panhandle and it's great!!!

My mom and older brother Colby came down a couple of weeks ago and helped me get moved. Packing wasn't too much fun..but Becca kept me pretty entertained, so I can't complain. We were able to get packed up in a couple of hours and unpacked in like 30 minutes. Poor Taz didn't enjoy the 7 hour drive. The little guy shook and cried then entire way, so I'm not sure we will be going on anymore road trips together anytime soon..lol.

I am now at my G's house and starting the renovations. There is a lot of work to do, but it's going to keep my busy so that is exciting! I am planning on painting all of the rooms. Thanks to my aunts lovely choice of bright yellow paint back in the 70's, I have my work cut out for me in at least one room. We are also laying tile in both of the bathrooms and putting new carpet down as well. Once all of the work is done, I'll post pics.

I got a phone call on my birthday from my doctor. They have changed my surgery date to March, but possibly April. There are some tests they want to run and then I have to go through all of the pre-surgery classes and tests to make sure I want to have it and I'm healthy enough to do so as well. I was kind of bummed about it at first just because I was super excited about it happening in January, but God has a plan and I have to trust in that plan. So in the mean time, I will be driving back and forth to Killeen for the next 4 months. Yay road trips..lol. But at least I will be able to see my girls!!

That's all that is really going on now. Mom is coming down for the weekend and we are going to be pulling up carpet and painting and all of that fun stuff. Then my aunt Pam is coming over Wednesday and we are going to tackle the lovely yellow room!

I'll keep you posted with pics and updates with how the house is going!!

Great News and a Move

So this week has been pretty wonderful!

I got some great "news" from my doctor. We have decided to go ahead with surgery. Hopefully it will happen at the first of the year. To me this is amazing because it has been such a long time coming. It's still not an answer and I'm still going to be going to tons of doctors appts but it's a start..one that I have been praying for, for a very long time! God has blessed me so much. I know that I have gone through this journey for a reason and although I don't always understand, I continue to trust in Him and His plan!

I am also moving!!!! This part is very exciting for me. Kason and Jase both got jobs back up north and I have decided to move to White Deer. It's so much closer to all of my family and friends and I'm over joyed about the idea. Sure WD is a super small town without a Walmart or much of anything, but it's still exciting for me.

I have been packing and trying to get ready for the move, which I decided to do less then two weeks ago! Mom and Colby are being awesome and coming down to help with the move. Love them for that!

So a lot of new and wonderful things are happening! I can't stop thanking my wonderful God for His many blessings!! Life is great!

Home :)

So I was able to go home this past week. My grandmother has been really sick and the doctors weren't sure if she was going to be ok, so I went home to spend some time with her. I love my G funk in the hood (she hates that, but it cracks me up)! She is such an amazing woman. We were able to talk about life and all that had been going on. Mom told me last night she doesn't remember me being there, but that is ok because she warmed my heart just seeing her!

While I was there I was also able to spend a little time with my mom and Kreed. Of course Kreed is too concerned with what is going on in his little world that I'm not sure he even noticed I was there until I was telling him goodbye..haha. But it's always great to see family!!

I was also able to some great friends..love being able to do that! After my weekend in Booker I went and stayed with my friend Chelsey for a few days. We had a really great time catching up and spending time together..although I was injured while I was there! Have a small fracture in my foot but it should be better in a few days! I'll post some pics of what happened. It's not pretty!

But anyways..being able to go home was so great! I miss my family and friends so much!! Can't wait for the holidays!!!

This is what happens when a table and two men land on your foot

This is the following day

And this is what happens after all of that!

Frustrations and Faith

So after hearing back from my doctor that she couldn't find anything wrong with me, the frustration set in. I feel like I have been going non stop for the past year and a half working so hard to find out why my body has freaked out and done what it has done. I thought for sure that this doctor would have the answers. She is considered the best in her field in the state of Texas. She comes highly recommended and every doctor prior to her said wonderful things about her abilities to take the hardest cases and solve them. So I was stoked when I went to see her. I just knew for sure that this is where I needed to be. But...nothing. Still no answers. So the frustration and thought of just throwing in the towel consumed my thoughts. I was done..no more. At that moment, prayer was far from my thoughts. I was mad, angry and upset.

Now onto the faith part. I have been attending a weekly Bible study at my church. We are doing Beth Moore's "Believing God." I have a great group of women in my small group. I told them about my troubles and like many people that are apart of my life, they have been praying for me, even when I haven't been! So we are on week 3 of the study. The name of the study is "Believing God can do what He says He can do." Day twos study is "All Shapes and Sizes." This weeks study talks about miracles. She talked about the many miracles God performed both in the New and Old Testament. She talked about the miracles she had seen in her own life and asked us to talk about the ones we have seen in our own life. I know God is powerful and He has done many wonderful things to people in my life. Take my grandmother for example. This past week they thought she might have cancer located in her chest. They went to do a biopsy and came out saying the spot was gone. That is a miracle! So while I was working through the second day of the study I started to think about what was going on with me. Now I want to point out that I'm not asking God for a miracle, but I'm also not saying that God wouldn't be willing to perform one for me as well. A few things throught the study hit me hard. I'll list a few of these statements Beth made in this study:

*God is pleased when we exercise faith
*God reads every petition we make on the tablets of our hearts
*Sometimes God may priorititze the faith required to continue trusting Him when we don't get what we ask over the faith required to receive it.
*We live in a fallen world where every human being suffers to some extent
*Our suffering need never be in vain. As we allow God to minister to us in our fiery trails, He is glorified, the church is edified, and we are qualified for greater reward.
*You can't lose when you earnestly seek God. Even if you don't find the answer, you find the Author


So after reading what Beth had to say I was like WOW. All of this time I have been so consumed with what the doctors had to say. My frustration has taken over and instead of giving it fully to God, I have put my fate in other's hands. The last statement: You can't lose when you earnestly seek God. Even if you don't find the answer, you find the Author. How true is that?!? I have so wanted an answer and instead of looking to God and realizing that through all of this, answers might not have been given, but because of what has been going on, I have found the Author and I wouldn't change that.

I know that I have a long road ahead still. Answers will come when God knows I am truley ready to hear them. I just need to let go and let God and trust that my suffering is never in vain and that sometimes God may priorititze the faith required to continue trusting Him when I don't get what I ask over the faith required to receive it. God nows the petetion I have on my heart and who's hands are better to have them in?

To end, Beth had us read Psalms 146 in the first person, as if we were the one saying it. When I did this, I broke into tears. It was so powerful and so true and just reminded me how wonderful a God I have in my life and how that I am so blessed that He chose to love me! Here is the verse. Try reading it in first person..it's amazing!!!


Psalms 146:

Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD, O my soul!
I will praise the LORD as long as I live!
I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist!
Do not trust in princess, or in human beings, who cannot deliever!
Their life's breath departs, they return to the ground; on that day their plans die.
How happy is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD his God,
the one who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who remains forever faithful,
vindicates the oppressed,
and gives food to the hungry.
The LORD releases the imprisoned.
The LORD gives sight to the blind.
The LORD lifts up all who are bent over.
The LORD loves the godly.
The LORD protects those residing outside their native land;
he lifts up the fatherless and the widow,
but he opposes the wicked.
The LORD rules forever,
your God, O Zion, throughout the generation to come!
Praise the LORD!


Have a wonderful week!

First Attempt at Starting a Blog!

So I have decided to start a blog! I thought this would be an easy way for friends and family to be able to be in the know about things going on with our life.

As of right now Sam is currently deployed to Iraq for 18 months! We are hoping and praying that he will be able to come home in April for BNOC (Army training course). If he is able to come home in April he will be stationed in AZ for 3-6 months. He wont be here in Texas but he will be in the States and at least we will know that he is safe. Plus we can actually see each other! Once he is done with BNOC we will more then likely be moving to Ft. Bragg NC.


Kason has moved in with me! He was kind enough to leave his life behind in Amarillo and move down here to keep me company while Sam is gone. He has been such a blessing and I'm so glad he is here! He got a job selling cars here in town and is trying to adjust to this new life. He is playing on two softball teams which has given him a chance to meet people and make new friends.


As for me, things haven't really changed. I am still going to different doctors trying to figure out what is going on with me health wise. I am currently seeing a specialist out of Temple with Scott and White. She has a lot of different ideas of what might be going on so for the time being it's going to be a lot of blood work and tests! Because of all of the doctor appts I have not been able to work. I am however getting very involved with our church. We recently became members of the First Baptist Church here in Killeen and we love it. Sam hates that he can't be apart of it however the church has been kind enough to send him cds of the sermons each week and he loves it! I am involved in a lot of different women's ministry programs...bible study, book club, deployed wives, welcoming committee, and I just started getting involved with the youth and so far it's been awesome.


That is pretty much all that has been going on. I am going to try really hard to keep up with this blog! :)