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Wednesday, April 28, 2010

My Buddy

As soon as Ross and I got married, we decided we would have a dog, someday. Last fall we decided there was no better time than the present to get a puppy. We wanted Ross to have time to get to know the dog (and the dog to get to know him) before he has to leave, but primarily we wanted to get a dog that would be my "buddy" while Ross is gone. So I began searching online for puppies. Ross wanted a big dog while I wanted a medium size dog. We found and fell in love with a Golden doodle pup, full of personality.

Meet Fenway!

He's crazy energetic, has chewed a cord or two, chewed on the baseboard at the top of the stairs, and eaten a full roll of toilet paper... but we love him! With each passing week he grows more and more out of his puppy mischief stage and becomes more and more a part of our little family.

He's very protective of me when Ross is not home - like my own little curly bodyguard, and I am blessed to have him as my buddy!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Ready Or Not... Here It Comes.

Ross leaves one week from today. Seven days. Am I ready? I have to be, he's going regardless. Right now, the thing that stresses me out the most is having time to see everyone before Ross leaves. It is important to him (and me) that he sees everyone he wants to as well as spending time with our families before he goes. Here is the run down of our week:

Sunday: had a get-together with our LIFE group from church (thank you Mutton's for hosting!)
Today: we are going to Warren to see my grandparents then hitting up the Tin Caps game with Derek
Wednesday: ERRANDS! We have to buy the things on Ross's "stuff to pack" list
Thursday through Saturday: Ross will be in Indy and Terre Haute out-processing.
Sunday: lunch with my family and grandparents
Monday (or Saturday): spending the evening with Ross's family
Tuesday: "D" day

This past Saturday we hosted a poker party and cookout as kind of a going away party for Ross. It was a good time, even though the weather did not cooperate. I sure am grateful for the group of friends we have! They will be an incredible support system, along with our LIFE group while Ross is away!

My friends at school keep asking me how I am doing. Truthfully, I am great. Next week may produce a different answer, but right now, I am fantastic! Just trying to enjoy these next seven days to their full potential!

More to come...

Friday, April 16, 2010

They own my heart

Family. I love mine! They pretty much own my heart! I am extremely fortunate to still have all four of my grandparents. I know this is rare and have never taken it for granted, these past two weeks especially.

Last week was my spring break. I spent the first three days of that week with my Dad's parents preparing and packing my Grandma to move into an Alzheimer's assisted living facility. For the past year, my Grandpa has been her primary care giver. This was awesome! However, because my Grandma had began "wondering" the time became necessary to move her into an environment where she will be safe. It was a tough transition for her, as well as for my Grandpa. Encouragingly, after a few days in her new environment my Grandma told us, "These people are really nice. This isn't as bad as I thought it would be." GREAT news for all to hear!

That week was undoubtedly stressful, and with a serious of small things with siblings and a friend (which alone were not a big deal, but, considering the week, seemed to have a magnified stress level), I was more than ready to get back to school and a "normal" routine.

Then Sunday night came.

I got a call around 10pm telling me that my Grandpa (yes, same family) was in the hospital. He had driven himself with a rapid heart rate and abdominal pains. I found myself lying in bed thinking, "Seriously, God! What more are you going to throw at me?"

Monday came and the initial diagnosis was that my Grandpa had had a heart attack and needed his gall bladder removed. However, Monday, the story was different. When asked by my Dad how Grandpa's heart was, nurses said it is fine. Then Tuesday they performed an Endoscopy and found nothing serious, so Wednesday they did a Colonoscopy and found cancer. I cannot say I was surprised as my Grandpa is not one to have regular check-ups on things like his colon.

Today, my Grandpa had surgery. I thought they were going to remove part of his colon, but that did not happen. They removed his gall bladder, and will do his colon surgery, hopefully, in a few days.

I am ashamed to say, it has been a while since I have spent as much time in prayer as I have these past two weeks. I pray daily, but these past two weeks I never quit praying. I know God will never give me anything I cannot handle, but that does not make weeks like these any easier. I am trusting God and His plan for not only MY life, but also the lives of my family members. This is not easy to do right now, but I know it is the only way. Now I find myself thinking maybe this was God's way of getting me back on track. After all He does work in mysterious ways!

I'm off to the assisted living facility to see Grandma! Then it's up to the hospital to see Grandpa!

More to come...

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

It's official...

Here it is, Ross's deployment is officially set for May 4th... 20 days away. How do I feel about this? GREAT!! He's still here! Ask me in 20 days and my answer might be different, but right now, it's super! Truthfully, I am excited for him! I think he will have a blast on this journey and I cannot wait to visit him in Texas, Mississippi, and Florida!! Hey, if he's going to be there, I might as well get some vacations in too, right?

We have a busy few weeks before he leaves spending time with family and friends. This weekend we're off to Detroit to see Ross's college friends. Should be a great time with incredible people!!

More to come....