Guest Blog

I talked to my mom earlier tonight and she told me she had written a blog. However, she does not have a blog of her own, so she said she had written a "guest blog" for me to put on my blog. I have to say, she's pretty good at this whole blogging thing. I hope you guys enjoy it. Thanks Mom for sharing your thoughts. Here it is:

Spring Break – I know most people look forward to spring break with great anticipation, either as a time of rest or a chance to let off steam and have fun. For me, it is something to be endured. I am restless, with millions of things I want to do, only to find that I do almost nothing, and breathe a sigh of relief when I can get back to my kids at school. Therefore, I become reflective. Many of the young people I know are facing difficult situations now. Some are joyful, some sad or challenging, some even frightening. Change (good or bad) is always difficult.
My mom’s favorite Bible verse was from Philippians, something about being content no matter what state you are in. It is mine, too. Ironic, considering that neither of us achieved a continuing state of contentment. I guess it’s a favorite verse because it’s such a worthy goal, as well as the only way to be truly happy.
There is a country song on the radio that I love. The refrain says that “you will miss these days,” no matter how difficult they may seem at the time. There is always something wonderful, but sometimes we don’t see it. I remember so well the feelings of jealousy when my classmates did fun, exciting things with their families, only to realize later that I had the most secure childhood. I remember falling in love with a real jerk, and how fortunate I was that it didn’t work out, especially when I met and married the best man in the world a few months later. I think of the days before the kids arrived, and remember how much fun Dennis and I had decorating our little house, pinching pennies, and becoming a couple. Those days were precious, and I hate that I wasted one second wishing for more than God chose to give me at that time. Later, I wanted so badly to get pregnant. It was anguishing to attend baby showers or hear stories of child abuse on the news. Now, I know that I would not trade my two babies for any others in the world, no matter where they came from. Much later, I remember supper at a restaurant with my Dad, Dennis, Jason, and Jamie. We were having a good time until a family nearby started singing happy birthday to their grandmother. I immediately felt such despair, having lost my mom in my early 30’s. How could I know that a short year later, I would once again sit in the same restaurant, with the same people, minus my precious son? Losing my mom was hard, but she had lived a long, productive, often painful life. I should have thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated the loved ones I still had.
I do not have the answers to sadness or discontent. I do know what helped me survive. When my mom died, I started taking my little ones to visit her friends. Suddenly, I found there were many surrogate grandparents. When Jason died, I became determined to be the best mom possible to Jamie, hoping to forget all past mistakes. I even “adopted” an entire family that needed my help. I am a much better teacher now that I have the perspective that comes from suffering a great loss. One of the greatest gifts in life is perspective, and it never comes easily.
Another favorite song of mine has a line about a “glorious sadness.” It always reminds me of a much adored friend who died from cancer. As you grow older, you realize that even sadness can be glorious, because it keeps your love alive. But you must do something positive with it. Appreciate the family and friends you have. Forgive the loved ones who offend you. They didn’t do it on purpose, and maybe your pain made you misunderstand their intentions. Find people who need you and reach out to help them. Enjoy the wonderful things in your state of life, and trust that our heavenly Father does know best.
Love to all, Jamie’s Mom

Welcome to West Texas

The weather has always been weird around here, but I think it has been the craziest I have ever seen today. At 2:00 this afternoon we went and played golf. It was warm enough that Greg and Chance were wearing shorts and I was wearing capris. There were times when we got hot while we were playing. It is now 9:00, only 4 or so hours since we played golf, and it is literally a blizzard outside. The wind is blowing about 50 miles an hour and we can hardly see across the street because the snow is blowing so bad. They are saying that we could get between 2 and 3 inches tonight. Crazy! Welcome to West Texas!

Let the Games Begin!

It's that time of year again when things get really busy. Greg and I are the co-chairs for the local Relay for Life and it's time to really get things going. There is a ton of stuff that we need to do and it occupies a lot of our time. I really enjoy being involved in such a wonderful event like this. It is amazing to see a community come together to support such a great cause and we feel very blessed to be able to be a part of it.
We are also getting ready to get the nursery ready for July. There's lots of work to do and time is going to sneak up on us in a hurry. It's an exciting time for us and we have loved every minute of it.
Life is good right now. We live in a wonderful community full of people that really care about us and are just as excited as we are about the new changes on the way. It's truly a blessing to realize that you can be loved by so many people that you didn't even know about. Our families have been great and extremely supportive. Thanks to all of our friends who have been supportive too. Thank you for being there for us and really showing us how blessed we are to be where we are today.

Blog Makeover

Thanks Mel for the blog makeover. It looks great!

Back to the Blogging World

Well, it's been a long time since I have written anything. It was May of '06 to be exact. A lot of things have taken place between then and now. I will try to be better about actually posting now that I have started a new blog.

I am in a very reflective mood today, I guess you could say. Today marks 11 years since my brother passed away. I often wonder where he would be today and how his life would be. I can't believe it's been 11 years. I think about him a lot and wish he could be here today. Here is a picture of him from high school that was taken shortly before he passed away.

Greg and I have been blessed with a new life that will be making her debut in July. We recently found out that our little one is a little girl. We have thought about names for a long time and decided to name our little girl after my brother. His middle name was Ray, and so our little girl's middle name will be Rae. I have always wanted to honor his memory in a very special way and I can't think of a better way to do it. I idolized my big brother growing up and I hope he is proud of what I have become today. Just for fun, here is a picture of us when we were little on his first day of school.

Lots of things have changed around here lately. Greg and I moved into a new house last December '06. It was our first big purchase as a newly married couple. We have loved living there. In September of '07, our good friends DeeDee and Brandon moved here from Dallas. We have really enjoyed having them close by and being able to spend a lot of time with them. DeeDee has been my best friend for several years now and I enjoy having her live 2 minutes away rather than 7 hours away. Some of our other closest friends welcomed their little baby girl into this world on December 27th. She is absolutely precious and we have loved spending time with her and watching her grow. It's hard to believe she is already 2 months old. It seems like just yesterday we were driving to Amarillo to see her for the first time just hours after she was born. Here is a picture of her from her first few days.

And now, here she is just a week or so ago.

Needless to say, things are going very well for us at this point. We have been blessed with great friends, great families, and great opportunities. I look forward to all of the blessings to come.