I've recently been doing a little research for an upcoming trip and decided that blogging might be a neat thing to do. We'll see. I know sometimes it's nice to tell your life story to total strangers. I guess it is anyway: people do it to me all the time.
I haven't really read many blogs as I said before just a few through research. My guess is you write what you know. What do I know about???? MY LIFE!!!!
I was born and raised in the south. So far I've lived in one state. Born in the south part and moved to the northcentral part preteen. (due to parents divorcing, and my half-sister (on my dad's side) being the only one my mom knew that could hide her. I'll get into that another time, maybe) My mom, Memaw, remarried to Pepaw soon after the divorce. I then gained to stepbrothers, A and J.
AAAHHHH!!!! Life at a new school. Not really a new concept for me. I had already been to three different schools by fifth grade. For the next six years, I made friends, swapped friends, and swapped friends again. It was/is a small school. I think we almost had fifty in our graduating class. At one time or another every one was close. I had a few boyfriends. It's strange, small town life. Some of those ex-boyfriends went on to marry some of my good friends. Really makes me wish I had saved all my kisses for my husband.
THE HUSBAND: I like to call him Poppy. NO, the kids don't call him that. Just me causse I'm a dork like that. Poppy had been going to my school since seventh grade, before that he home schooled. I didn't really NOTICE him until eleventh grade. He asked me out fall of 1998 and we've been together (minus that one over night breakup right before graduation) ever since.
After graduating, Poppy and I went to our state university. August 2001, we had a youth revival at our church. That Sunday morning we had around ten saved including Poppy (which was a huge surprise to every one because he had made a childhood profession and lived a "good" life) and myself (I had been raised Pentecostal and never had truly trusted in Jesus). About six months after, we knew that we needed to pray about to see if we were the ones God wanted for each other. We knew that if we weren't that we needed to go ahead and break up. So we prayed and prayed and prayed. It was a very scary time in my life. I loved Poppy and wanted to be with him for the rest of my life. I also knew that if we were't to be we would not only be messing up our lives but the lives of those were suppose to be with. God has plans for our lives but sometimes (alot for me) we let our wants, "needs". emotions get in the way. In the end, we both got our answer (that peace only God can give you abut a situation). After discussing things, we knew that it was time for us to get married. Much to the (at first) disapproval of his parents. (They wanted us to finish college first.)
We were engaged for a year. About four months into the engagement, Poppy surrendered to the call to the ministry. In Summer 2003, we were married. One month later, we were pregnant.
Here I would like to note that we missed that first year of wedded bliss. One of my brothers-in-law, Beau, dubbed me Satan while I was pregnant. (sidebar: in every pregnancy I seem to have one person that gets on my nerves to no end... Beau just happened to be that person in my first two pregnancies) We had fights (not physically) Slammed doors, stomped feet... all that good stuff we were suppose to grow out of after the teens. We survived. Learned to talk things out etc (not that we don't still have our moments).
Four months before C1 was due, I came back from an errands at my student-worker job and was told to sit down. My dad was in ICU and unconscious. My husband, sister, mom, and I raced the four hour trip down there. He never woke up. We had to make the very hard decision to turn off the machines. The doctors told us he was brain dead and that he would never wake up. All his organs had shut down. My dad had been very sick. He was diabetic and didn't take care of himself. He smoked and played with his insulin. He had even been to sick to make it to my wedding. The one happiness that I have is that six months prior to his death he had accepted Jesus as his Savior. He prayed, he read his Bible, and he had been a new creature. One day, I'll see him again in Heaven. I sometimes imagine him looking down watching his grandbabies that he never got to meet. I do find it so sad when I think about how he always said he wanted to live to see his first grandbaby.
Spring 2004, we were blessed with C1. I started having contractions in the middle of a sign language test, which Brooklyn (sister-in-law) was in with me. It being my first kid and all. I wasn't sure if it was real labor so Brooklyn and I went and walked around Walmart. We finally called Grandma (in-law). She still makes fun of us to this day. She told us to go to the doctor to get checked. Thirty minutes later, I call Poppy and tearfully tell him I'm in labor. C1 came out after ten hours of labor not breathing. Scared us half to death (my husband still gets teared up when he talks about it). After a night under oxygen, we finally got to hold our baby. He was fine.
Two months later, we were pregnant again. DA DA DUM..... No no we weren't trying. Yes yes we were using protection. NO WE AREN'T TRY TO CATCH UP TO HIS PARENTS (Poppy is the oldest of eight).. I don't know if this is everywhere but down here people ask really personal questions. There I was a new mom, semi-new wife, and pregnant. Life was a little messy. I suffered from baby blues awful. We had alot going on. During both pregnancies, we were in charge of the youth at the church. Planning and going and doing... We also were both still in college. I stopped going at the half way point in my second pregnancy.
Ten and a half months after C1 was born, C2 was born. He came out crying. It seemed that was all he did. To this day, he is still a little on the whiny side. I really think (I'm not a doctor but just my thoughts on it) that the postpartum messed with the chemicals in my body which in turn messed with his. Now that he is in school, he has attention problems. I don't know maybe that is just normal for some kids.
LIFE: normal life in the next four years... Deaths, weddings, births. Life carried on. Poppy graduated from college. I gained two nephews. In winter 2008, we made a discovery. I was pregnant. We were so excited. We had been trying for two years. I was of the impression that I wouldn't be able to have anymore. Poppy, who was at that time the assistant pastor at our church, cried when he announced it.
Summer 2009, we had C3. He was born and a week later we were at open house for C1 kindergarten year. I was so emotional. I cried so much. My oldest off to school, another baby in the house, CRAZINESS.
So spring of 2010, we got an awesome tax-return. We decided to take the boys to Disney. We left C3 with Nana and Papaw (poppy's parents), and off we went. It was a blast. It was right between there birthdays so they were both five. We found a coupon and got our room for $20 a night. It was a very cheap motel but we didn't care. We just went there to crash. We took snacks in, we ate sandwiches or outside the parks. We went elcheapo but we went and the kids had the time of their lives and beg to go back.
Summer 2010, I started not feeling so great. I felt PREGNANT. But that couldn't be... I was on the pill. I quit taking it and took a pregnancy test instead. POSITIVE!!!! We had another busy pregnancy. We moved into the parsonage (poppy had been made pastor). C2 started school. Fieldtrips, school parties, church functions.... LABOR.
Early in the year 2011, our Miss Kay was born. Every one was so excited for a girl. She was the first grandgirl on both sides. Now our house was complete (Lord willing), and I got my tubes tied.
Spring 2011, so many areas were hit with tornadoes including ours. It affected many of our churchmembers and also our church building.
Summer 2011, our former pastor, a very loved man, passed away. He was so precious to us all. He had been our pastor for ten years, and with our church damaged we weren't able to have his funeral there (a hard hit for us all).
LIFE: church, school, diapers, birthdays.. KIDNEY STONES (but let's not go there). Deaths, births, divorces... Family drama. PANIC ATTACKS (i frequently suffer from what I call bad nerves).
NOW... We are a family of six and try to serve God. I hope this wasn't to boring. I mean I don't think my life is a snoozer but it's not exactly a hollywood drama either. To me though, it's an adventure. Each day, you never know what you're going to get. Days can go by with monotony, or days and days when things come on us heavy and we think it'll never let up. No matter what though, we have a God that is by our sides.
