a fantastic weekend!

We had a blast in Orlando. My sweet Gram is in town and we got to play a lot of fun games. We had a big breakfast that was delicious and just really spent time relaxing. I love being close to them.

Slim and Davis=best friends. Davis just chases him around and wants to be held by him. It is pretty much the most precious thing I have ever seen.

Our sweet Brayden was running a fever the whole time that we were there, so he had to miss out on Monster Trucks. The men (Greg, Slim, and my dad) still went despite a few tears from Brayden (but mostly from me, I was heartbroken for him!)

Gracie is getting huge. At breakfast she proceeded to sort all of her food and then squish it all into her hair. It was delightful!

I have one picture that I will be putting up. I don't know why we didn't take any pics this weekend. I guess that we were just having too much fun! Wait for the pic. You won't want to miss it!

Dude is going to the kennel

I feel like a first time mom. Our sweet Dude is going to the kennel for the first time today. I am already anxious.

At least Amanda, my sister-in-law, will get to play with him.

The sad thing is that we can't pick him up until Monday. Look at this sweet face!

(yes that is a line of slobber accross his nose.)

fearing more than death

As you all know... I take care of Seniors, in their homes. A new study was just done, and I thought that you would be interested in reading it.


U.S. SENIORS FEAR LOSS OF INDEPENDENCE MORE THAN DEATH
Seniors actually fear moving into a nursing home and losing their independence more than they fear death, according to a new study that examines the attitudes and anxieties of the nation’s older-adult population. This research is yet another indicator that Home Instead Senior Care is providing an incredibly valuable service to seniors and their families by enabling these older adults to remain in their homes as long as possible.

The “Aging in Place in America” research study, commissioned by Clarity and The EAR Foundation, also found that children of seniors also fear for their parents, with particular concern about their emotional and physical well being should they enter a nursing home. (A summary of the report is available at http://www.myhearinghealth.com/archive/2007/10/25/99.aspx, and a PDF of the full report can be downloaded at http://www.clarityproducts.com/research/Clarity_Aging_in_Place_2007.pdf.)

When asked what they fear most, seniors rated loss of independence (cited by 26 percent) and moving out of a home into a nursing home (13 percent) as their greatest fears. Death was the greatest fear for only 3 percent.

Other key findings included the following:
· 89 percent of the seniors wanted to age in place without moving from their homes, and more than half are concerned about their ability to do so.
· Seniors living at home were determined to maintain their independence, reporting that they required limited support from their children or other caregivers.
· Half of seniors were open to using new technologies to enable independence, including having sensors installed in their homes to monitor their health.
“These findings tell us that, above all else, older Americans value their ability to live independently,” said Peter Bell, president of National Aging in Place Council.

Pretty interesting huh? Guess that I am in the right business!

Speak Photography!

Ashley Danielle (Speak Photography) is so talented. She is still in college, but has really got it together when it comes to photography. This past Saturday and Sunday was promo-weekend. Here are a couple of my shots from then. You can view her blog from my favorites. She is so sweet, and will be marrying her highschool sweetheart this summer!

Ashley will be doing some photos for Men of Honour. Stay tuned for those.

Enjoy these, in the meantime.

You can access all her photos at http://ashley-danielle.deviantart.com/

Happy Birthday Gus!

Fr0m Dude!

Follow-up from yesterday's post

James 1:5

If you want to know what God wants you to do- ask him, and he will gladly tell you.

Since Slim's gear loss. He has really been seeking God to find out what He wants for him. Last night he played his final show with Grey No More, a local band that he has played with for a while now. The musicians are all guys that he has played with for years, but about 8 months ago, they formed an official band. Slim knew that when the gear was taken, that he would be only playing with them one more time. He is even taking some time off of playing for Sunday morning worship.

This will hopefully give Slim more time to press into what God really wants from the talent that He has given my wonderful husband.

Slim has such a special gifting, both musically and personality wise. He will be missed on the stage, but we are excited to have time for him to write some music and be able to get back to the place where God him to be.

God, please show us what you want us to do.

I John 5:14

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, he hears us.

I have been thinking a lot about what I am going to be called to in 2008. What is His will for me? For Slim and me?

Orlando challenged us to ask God...

"Where are you leading me?" It is a scary thing to pray, but an exciting adventure to be in the center of God's will.

Our only possible response is... "where you lead me, I will go!"

I won't run ahead of His calling. I only want what He wants for me.


If I were planning for myself, in 2008...

1. I would like to become a mom.
2. I want to do some more volunteer work, whether it be with an overseas ministry, or even locally.
3. I would like to travel to Syracuse, Dayton, and Nashville before the year's end.


Just some thoughts. Random, I know.

...

I had to...

...get glasses

Our First Married Christmas

We had heard over and over again that our first married Christmas would be memorable. Little did we know what that meant. First let me begin by saying, Slim and I both had our best Christmases yet, despite the following stories...

Friday night, December 21st, 07.

Our dear friends Lauren and Billy invited us to the hockey game. Now, I am not a big Everblades fan, but I am a fan of the DeAngelis Diamond box. I never turn it down actually. (We have even seen WWE- gross, but exciting from the box). We had a great time, with great friends. Heather and Jared were there, Dupree and Mark, Brandon and Alaina, and of course Billy and Lauren. Santa was there, too!

When we arrived home from the game, I started to pack up the Christmas presents from underneath the Christmas tree. If you haven't seen our lovely tree, please scroll down, and view a previous post. Like I said in that post, our tree needed to be set up in the kitchen due to the size of it. It was beautiful and I loved it being in there. As I pulled the final present out from beneath the tree, something terrible happened. Without any hesitation the tree toppled over causing all the ornaments on the front of it to hit the tile floor. It sounded like a bomb had gone off in our home. Slim was using the bathroom when this happened, and all I could was yell for help. Pieces of glass ornaments were everywhere. My heart was sad. Some of my ornaments from childhood were broken and unable to be repaired. Two glass ornaments from the Joneses shattered and that hurt my heart. It was really awful.

After getting the tree cleaned up and rearranged, we headed to bed. At this point, it was about midnight and the next morning we were getting up early to go to my parents home. Slim and I slept in on Saturday until about 9, and then I hopped in the shower and he went outside to clean out the car so that it could be packed up to leave on our journey. When I got back in the room, all dressed and ready to go, Slim came in and asked me a very strange question...

Slim: "Did you have anything valuable in your car?"

Me: "No, why?"

Slim: (in a very calm tone) "Because my car was broken into last night and they stole all my gear. The cops are on the way-- we can't go anywhere until they get here and take care of the police report."

Yes, folks that is correct. My sweet Slim lost 4 guitars and 2 amplifiers that night. In the midst of the Christmas tree fiasco, we forgot to unload his gear, and it just so happened that someone broke into his car that night and stole it.

He lost

1 Taylor Acoustic 614-CE, which was the first guitar of our dear friend John DeAngelis.

1 Fender Stratocaster, which if you have ever seen him play- this is the gorgeous red guitar that he plays most often

2 Fender Telecasters

1 Fender Pro Series Concert Reverb 4x10 amplifier

1 Fender 65 Reissue delux Reverb 1x12 amplifier

Inside one of the amps there were 5 microphones, as well.

The damage was approximately $10,000. Right now the insurance company is saying that they will only reimburse $1,000 of that, but we are in a war with them, and hope that it is getting worked out.

Slim is doing really well with it all. I was much more emotional about it than he was. He has his moments, but knows that God is trying to teach him something big from all of this. Slim will be taking some time off from music in order to spend time learning what God wants from all of this. Pray for us as we press on to see what God is calling us to do.

So needless to say, this Christmas will always be remembered!