2011 in Review

I know everyone is writing a new years eve/new years blog and I am joining in. What a year this has been...

January- Was actually a pretty quiet month. We had a decent working van and stayed busy with church, and family, and friends. Jeremy had started working at the church twice a week.

February- I turned 25. Jeremy developed a hernia (which was completely healed by God with no need for surgery). Celebrated our second Valentines day and our first as a married couple. My baby niece turned 3 (seriously where does the time, things have changed so much in that time) Wrote my first blog about our baby journey, and realized 8 years had already passed since Mom has passed away.

March- Went to our church's womens conference where God challenged me to reach out to our neighbors more, talked about adoption. Bought a brand new couch and rearranged the living room. My baby sister turned 9 this year crazy I remember it like yesterday I was changing her diapers.

April- Another quiet month. Not a whole lot of excitement. My dad turned 51 this month.

May-  Osama Bin Laden was killed major major news! Threw my best friends baby shower. Was excited to see her. Our main a/c unit died. Formed our board for our ministry (Jesus Saves International Ministries) and had our first board meeting.

June-  Van broke down AGAIN!!!! Simple air sensor but so annoying. Applied for non-exempt status with the IRS for the ministry.

July- Plain old hot summer especially with no ac. Set a goal for the end of the year.

August- Jeremy became and ordained minister with Liberty Network. 2nd board meeting of the year.

September- Sprung a water leak in our pipe leading  to the house. Best friend had her adorable little boy on the first. Tropical Lee came thru and brought a couple of days of cooler weather (which I loved). Started Herbalife and lost 10 lbs the first week.

October-  Celebrated our 1 year anniversary. Continued Herbalife and lost 17 lbs. Drove to Ga to see my best friends Baby.

November- Adopted another little doggie (although it was short lived because I did not have the patience to deal with housebreaking all over again) Lost 10lbs. Celebrated Thanksgiving with my in-laws. Had family pictures taken. Created Christmas Cards. Decorated early for Christmas this year.

December- Lost 9 more lbs for a total of 46lbs since Sept. Celebrated Christmas early with my bro, sis-in-law, and nieces. Surprised my best friend for her birthday in Georgia. Celebrated Christmas with my in-laws including brother in law, his girlfriend and grandma in law. Got our approval for for non-profit tax exemption from the IRS. THANK YOU JESUS!!!! That was three and half years of hard work on my hubby's part. Celebrated New Years Eve with the love of my life on the couch watching the ball drop in New York.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you and your family! May you be blessed during the holiday season and everyday!

Katie, Jeremy, Angela, and Molly

Awesome Giveaway!!!

I love reading all the blogs by my blogger friend Ashley. I was checking her out today and she has an amazing give away going on right now. It is a $25 dollar giveaway to a very cute etsy store.


Check it out here for all the details:


Lolamae-Creations Giveaway

Roxie

God works in mysterious ways. The hubs and I have talked about getting a second dog for awhile and have gone back and forth on it. A couple of weeks ago a friend on facebook put up that they were wanting to get rid of their dogs because they work so much and the dogs spend so much time in the kennel that they were feeling bad about it and we had decided to wait to get one for awhile but than they put something up again today. I responded that we wanted the little girl dog and we got her today. When they came over the hubs spent time hanging with our friends husband and got to share his heart about the ministry and where we want to go with our home studio and they were such a huge unexpected blessing because of that. So little Roxie ended up being a huge blessing to "J".
Here is Roxie Leigh "E"

Hello Again....

I know its been awhile since I updated this blog and I am sorry to my readers. Not much has been happening in our lives that has been blog worthy lately. But we did get some family pictures taken on Saturday and got them back already a couple of days ago so without further ado here is the "E" Family 2011...

This is us normally

Love it!

My "A" she is an amazing woman and friend. Truly Beautiful inside and out!

1 Year!

Well I know I am about a week late on this post but last Sunday my Honey and I celebrated 1 year of Marriage. I cant believe it's already been a year. Where has the time flown. We went to the same restaurant that we went the night of our wedding and ate our first dinner together as a married couple. We exchanged gifts the day before because we couldn't wait and technically we got married on a Saturday so we thought it would count. I bought Jeremy a book that he had wanted for awhile and I picked out an awesome devotional that was recommended by some close friends of ours and I also picked out some warm pj's as he is always freezing at night. He bought me one of my top two favorite childhood movies Dumbo that was pretty much all I wanted until I found a wallet by Vera Bradley that I loved and he also bought that from me although I didn't get it in the mail until a couple of days after our anniversary. It has been quite an eventful year for us. With all the expenses we have had it's been hard to save up an emergency fund, I am hoping the second year goes a lot smoother. We have another 1 year anniversary coming up and that's tomorrow. We totaled my car exactly 1 week after we got married on our way out to dinner. I know God was in control there as I was thrown from the front seat to the back seat and was at first pretty sure Jeremy had broken his back. Thankfully we were less than 10 miles from our house and his parents were able to get there quickly to take me and our roommate who was with us up to the hospital to meet Jeremy and than they were so gracious to still buy us dinner and pick up his prescription for pain meds. We also have had some extensive ac work and still have to have it replaced and fixed a closet shelf that almost fell on me on our wedding day and a water leak and several several several car repairs. I will be so happy to see that van go in March. It has been such a source of stress and severe limitations this past year. We also still have to go on our honeymoon which hopefully will be in March in Destin. We though have had a very blessed 1rst year and I can't wait for the next 50 years.

You are more by Tenth Avenue North

Listen to this song the other day and it just really encouraged me so I thought I would share the words with yall.

There's a girl in the corner
With tear stains on her eyes
From the places she's wandered
And the shame she can't hide

She says, "How did I get here?
I'm not who I once was.
And I'm crippled by the fear
That I've fallen too far to love"

But don't you know who you are,
What's been done for you?
Yeah don't you know who you are?

You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

Well she tries to believe it
That she's been given new life
But she can't shake the feeling
That it's not true tonight

She knows all the answers
And she's rehearsed all the lines
And so she'll try to do better
But then she's too weak to try

But don't you know who you are?

You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

'Cause this is not about what you've done,
But what's been done for you.
This is not about where you've been,
But where your brokenness brings you to

This is not about what you feel,
But what He felt to forgive you,
And what He felt to make you loved.

You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

You've been remade
You've been remade.
You've been remade.
You've been remade

Finding my life while losing myself

Yep thats what I said... I started another blog yesterday as I also started an incredible personal journey of weight loss and healthy living and permenant lifestyle change. Come check it out and maybe leave a shout of encouragement a long the way. But remember the old adage from your momma, "If you can't say anything nice you shouldn't say anything at all" This has been an extremely personal battle that I have fought and lost (most of the time) all of my life. So I invite you to come along and watch but nasty comments or jokes will not be tolerated if you don't care about it than don't follow. I will be posting a lot there as I also plan on finding out the reasons behind why this has been a battle and hopefully and prayerfully this will no longer be a battle with me.


Finding My Life While Losing Myself a Journey to Weight Loss and Life.

Liebster Award.

I was awarded the Liebster Blog Award from someone who I consider a friend that was only made possible by blogging. Wilma at Life In Our Corner Of The World. Liebster is German for dearest, favorite or beloved.

The receipent of this award should link back to the one who gave it to her and pass it along to 5 bloggers who have less than 200 followers

So Here are my Liebster Awards

Wilma at Life in Our Corner of the World

Christy at Fearfully-Wonderfully

Adrienne at Lovng Me Now

Jessica at How BitterSweet It Is

Mary Beth at The MaryBeeBzz

All of these women behind the blogs whether they know it or not have been an inspiration and source of encouragement to me in my life.

What's been going on?

So I know it's been awhile since I posted anything so here's the long edition update! Since The last time I have updated my best friend has had her baby (YAY! Can't wait to go see my new nephew), found out we have a water leak (fun fun), had a tropical storm come thru, and lastly cooler weather has come in.


First my best friend had her first baby a little boy. Samuel Allen was born on September 1. He is one of the cutest babies I have seen. We are trying to plan a trip in the next couple of weeks. I can't wait I am so excited. I will be posting pictures from our trip if I can figure it out.


The water leak, ya so we found this out by getting a 100 dollar water bill. It was totally unexpected and the water company has not been very helpful. While we have a small small water leak somewhere it isn't the whole issue. Our meter reader is less than honest from year experience with this company. Found out that our neighbor who only has 2 people living in it had a few high bills like we are talking 15,000 gallons ain't no way and his sister who lives next door by herself and also had a 16,000 gallon bill and no leaks. The company doesn't do anything to insure that the meter is read accurately or even read every month. So tomorrow out comes the plumber which is crazy expensive, makes me want to just go dig a well and have well water so I don't have a water bill. For the locals we don't have ECUA we have a small water company a couple of miles from our house. So frustrating because our water line runs under our in-laws and next door neighbors driveway and under part of our driveway so I pray that it isn't under our driveway or theirs where the leak is. My biggest pray is that there isn't a leak at all and the issue is all on the water company. Part of me wants to go I told you so I told you that it wasn't right and I knew it was on your end. I also am doing daily meter readings myself to make sure I am getting an accurate reading on my bill.

Tropical storm lee blew thru the area causing lots of rain and wind. But the best thing about this storm was it caused it to cool off big time. Last night it was around 68 at 10 and this morning at 830 when I left my house to go babysit my baby niece it was only 64 I had to pull out a jacket. It's awesome! I was so excited to have the windows and doors open tonic and better yet none of the drifted escaped and no strays walked in although Molly probably would have taken care of them. I have the cutest video of Molly I will have t see if I can post on here or if I will have to post on YouTube or Facebook however I figure it out.

I think this covers everything will have to let y'all know what the plumber says tomorrow prayerfully this won't be expensive.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of The Year...

...well almost. I absolutely LOVE,LOVE,LOVE fall. There isnt one thing I can think of that I dont like. One thing about living in Florida is that at least is cools down from our hot summers and this summer has been record hot at least it feels that way to me. Although this summer has been fun. I have been able to spend lots of time with my nieces and I know that will change a little more once school starts although I might actually get my baby (she doesnt think so) niece more as my sister in law is going back to school the same time my two older nieces go back to school; but anyways enough about summer. I love fall for the cooler weather, falling leaves, open windows and doors, fire in the fireplace, my anniversary, pumpkins, scarecrows (although those are actually more springtime and summer), sweaters, jackets, hot apple cider. Than there are the emotions that go along at least for me, I always feel closer to family in the fall and winter maybe because of all the holidays, and thankfulness, and gratefulness, and blessedness (if that is a word). Also another thing about fall that tops my list is that my absolute favorite holiday is coming and that is Christmas of course with Christmas comes hot cocoa and carols and christmas lights and buying presents and giving gifts. This next season makes me very reflective on all of the blessings I have in my life and how thankful I am for them. This year I do have one more thing to be very thankful for and that is the fact that I have been married for 1 year this october. I can't believe its already been a year, I thought for sure this year would go by so slowly and for whoever said that the first year of marriage is the hardest I sure wish they could have had our first year, It was actually pretty easy. I am so thankful even now.

Goal for the End of the year! (Originally titled Goal for April!)

So I have decided I definitely need to set goals in order to accomplish the rest of the unpacking. (yes after almost 11 months there are still boxes) Also I need to get the decorating on the way and finished although it took me a little over 2 years to hang up any pictures in my apartment and I already have pictures out and on the walls here already. (YAY! for that) My next goal to accomplish is to set up my office/craft room. I spent two or three hours unpacking stuff on sunday now today I am going to hopefully get some things moved into the closet and some pictures and shelves hung on the wall. I will be so happy when that is finished and I have it all done. I am on the look out for a big comfy arm chair to go in the corner for a little reading corner. So I still have boxes that need unpacking upstairs in my office. Although I have managed to get new furniture and rearrange my living room a bit and get some more stuff hung up in there. I am now working on a collage frame for our bedroom to hang up. Hopefully will be able to get that done in the next couple of weeks and hung up. I am waiting for it to really cool down before I do a lot of work upstairs as our ac has been out since the end of may on the main part of the house and as a home owner there is no landlord or anyone else to go to that will fix the ac or put in money to help so we are trying to save up the 3500.00 needed to replace the inside and outside units. Thankfully because of the way the house is built we have 3 seperate units on our house and we have air where our bedrooms and our downstairs office and dining room is at. Our roommate does have a window for her room and bathroom upstairs, which makes the house pretty managable and with all the rain we have been having we have been pretty cool in the downstairs part of the main house. Anyways I know its been forever since I have blogged on here and there really isnt anything major happening in our lives that has stopped me, life has just been busy but pretty mundane so not really anything to write about. Jeremy is going to become an ordained minister through Liberty Network, which is through our church. That will happen wednesday night and we are pretty excited about it. YAY!!!! I know this is really exciting for my hubby. We have been keeping my nieces on Sunday and monday night and part of tuesday. I am so excited because my oldest niece is coming home tomorrow from almost 2 months being gone in California with her dad and I get to have her on monday night with her sisters at my house. Tomorrow I get my baby niece which I love having she is so stinking cute and her new thing is knock knock jokes. My brother and sister in law just moved to a new house and she was so excited when I brought her back to the house she was running around saying I love my new house I love my new house. Well there isnt much else to write about not a lot new going on. I am going to try better to keep this up to date more.

Fun Friday

I know I have been incognito for a little bit now and to come back I thought I would fill out this fun little survey to get to know me a little better!
1. How close to your childhood dreams is your life now?
My childhood dreams are almost exactly where I am at right now. The one thing I need to complete those dreams and will happen in due time is babies. I am married to the man of my dreams and we work together at our church and also have our ministry.

2. What is one must have item for the summer?
A/C, Seriously!, you do not want to meet me when I am overheated.

3. Do you have your kids stay up on school stuff during summer vacation? (Or, if you don't have kiddos, did your parents make you keep up on school stuff during summer?)
My parents did not make me keep up on school stuff. I went to my granny's house during the summer and we were too busy playing to do school stuff

4. Do you can or freeze fresh produce?
No.

5. Do you get ready for the day first thing in the morning?
Nope I am a stay at home wife and somedays I do not get out of my pj's

SWW 06-15-2011

So what if...

• Its 9pm and we haven't eaten dinner yet
• its 9 pm and i am just now writing my SWW
• I think that it is amazing that 8 months has already passed since I have said I do, i thought our first year would pass slowly for some reason
• I/we choose to live without an ac for right now because we dont want to take out any loans and go into any debt and we will save up for the replacement unit, we are trying to become debt free
• I/we choose not to get a second car for right now because of the above mentioned of not wanting to get a loan and want to become debt free
• i think that my hubs and i were some of the most gorgeous babies ever seriously we were cute!
• if our power was out for 3 1/2 hours because someone hit a pole down the road I pray they are ok but we were able to be gone for most of that time
• that this is all I have its my blog and I can write what I want

Smelly!?

So I have discovered a horrible smell in my house today. Not sure what it is have checked all the trash and removed most of the garbage bags from the house (we have multiple trash cans in case you were thinking I had several bags laying around) so tomorrow I will be scrubbing floors with hot water and bleach and floor cleaner. Hopefully I can get rid of the stale smelly dirty diaper smell.

On other news, Saturday the hubs and I attempted to drive out to Robertsdale for my stepsister's graduation party and our van died about 5 minutes from my dads house. AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!! was all I can say about that. For any of you that can remember the craziness we had last year with our van dying all the time and noone (not even dodge(you would think that at least all of them of people would be able to figure out their own vehicle) it was not a good flash back. We managed to get it back to the house barely I mean like we pulled into the driveway and it died again. Not Cool. We get it towed over to our car shop that actually did figure out what the problem was last year and they called to tell me it was our air temp sensor that had come loose and also our throttle was very clogged and dirty. After getting that all cleaned out and plugging the sensor back in tightly they test drove it a couple of times with no problems. I picked up it up today and it ran so smooth and took off without any problems or any hesitations. YAY! Now hopefully this fix will last us at least 9 1/2 more months and than we can replace the vehicle completely.

We were also in the process of saving up to replace our ac unit that died on us right before our car died so needless to say its been a kinda stressful time lately. We are just dealing with the lack of air in the main part of our house by hanging in our bedroom and offices in the part of the house that has ac.


I guess this is all a sign that I need to really start and hit my Mary Kay business hard if I sold everything I had in stock we could replace our ac unit. Hmmm.... Now how to figure out how to get it sold anyone who is reading that would like to buy some I sell to anyone anywhere and would be happy to send you a catalogue. Just let me know.

Had my nieces over the other night and sometimes they make it so that we are glad that right now that we don't have any kids and the hubs view them at times as a great birth control. While I agree at times we still want children and wish at times we could just get preggo the old fashioned way. Especially now at times when everyone it seems is preggo around me, from family members to friends. While we are not doing anything to prevent babies right now and would be ecstatic to have 2 lines show up on a test it makes me relax to knowing that most likely it won't happen the old fashion way. We can enjoy each other as well without any worries of whether or not I took my pill or do we have condoms or anything like that. And financially speaking except for getting our emergency fund going and stay going (i.e. no emergencies) we are set for a baby we dont have any house payments or car payments or anything like that.

Well I have pretty much caught up on here, so I will scoot for now to spend time with my honey as we celebrate tonight 8 months of marriage. Hard to believe that we are 2/3s of the way thru our first year of marriage.

SWW 06-1-11

So what...

• If I feel like taking a ball bat to the computer... more specifically to blogger who will not let me comment or follow or anything other than write blogs and read them
• If I want to be a foster parent so bad even now when we have one extra half functioning room and it is in desperate need of a paint job
• If it looks like it might be close to 6 months to get our air condtioner fixed (why does everything have to be so dog gone expensive)
• If I talk to my dog like I talk to a kid. Calling her by her first middle and last name and even asking her questions (what she responds)
• If I am extremely frustrated with everything breaking down in the house and the car over the past year arghhhhhh is all I can say
• If it frustrates me that everything in price is going up but we will not recieve an pay raises unless I get a job and than all that job will pay is gas to and from work and an aid to come help the hubs while I am gone at work
• If I make out a calendar to plan out all our meals (it helps with saving money and reduces impulse buying)

Memorial Day Weekend

The hubs and I spent our weekend busier than normal for us. I and our roommate and best friend threw my other best friends baby shower (so excited cant wait until the baby is here). That was a lot of work but well worth it. Plus I got to hold a baby in I dont know how long. Jeremy normally has fridays off anyways so he got a four day weekend which was nice. Sunday we had church and than we drove out to laurel hill for one more visit with my preggo best friend and her husband and her inlaws. We had steaks and garden squash and potato salad than back home. Monday we slept in a little bit. We were hoping to see the hubs uncle and that maybe he could fix our tankless water heater but they had to leave town a day earlier because he got sick. So hopefully next time. The rest of the day hubby spent working on updating and reinstalling e-sword onto our computers and server, while I just relaxed around the house caught up on some shows on the dvr. it was a relaxing weekend all around though.

SWW 05-25-11

So what if...

• I bought craft stuff for my nieces to have at my house but secretly is thrilled that I now have an excuse to color and make stuff (I find it relaxing)
• my new favorite website is crayola.com
• am excited that we have pretty much come to the decision that we will be adopting in 4 years and that we will be doing it debt free
• that it tickled me that my youngest niece is fiercely defensive of me and tells her sisters that I am her Aunt Katie and not theirs (which I had to tell her the other day that I was theirs as well and it nearly made her cry
• that finally after having a dog for 9 1/2 months that I am just now getting to enjoy her
• that I started this on Saturday (I had time then)
• that I highly upset that less than a week after we had our ac serviced it went out again (hoping it doesnt mean that we have to replace it we will just have to live without an ac in the main part of the house)
• if I sleep with the tv on but have to fall asleep with my netflixs playing on my phone with my ear plugs on
• that this is the first time I am sad about neighbors moving away from me

old Post from myspace!

Maybe...



"Maybe"

Maybe God wanted us to meet the wrong people before meeting the right one so that when we finally meet the right person, we will know how to be grateful for that gift.

Maybe when the door of happiness closes, another opens, but often times we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one which has been opened for us.

Maybe the best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.

Maybe it is true that we don't know what we have until we lose it, but it is also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives.

Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they will love you back. Don't expect love in return; just wait for it to grow in their heart; but if it does not, be content it grew in yours.

It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone, an hour to like someone, and a day to love someone, but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.

Don't go for looks; they can deceive. Don't go for wealth; even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you smile because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright. Find the one that makes your heart smile.

There are moments in life when you miss someone so much that you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them for real.

Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; and be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to make you happy.

Always put yourself in others' shoes. If you feel that it hurts you, it probably hurts the other person, too.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

Happiness lies for those who cry, those who hurt, those who have searched, and those who have tried, for only they can appreciate the importance of people who have touched their lives.

Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss, and ends with a tear.

The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past, you can't go on well in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you are the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

SWW 05-18-11

• So what if I havent posted one of these since the middle to end of april
• or that it took my 7 months to get our closets organized and at got all of the hubbys clothes out of my closet
• or that for the first time in since we have been married I have consistently cooked dinners for the past like 2 weeks
• or that its taken me about 2 1/2 weeks to get this far along on our laundry (would help to clean our room and closets out sooner)
• that one of my favorite shows is Dr. Phil and tha fact that my hubby wrote him and we might get an email back even from the show just tickles me
• that i am going kicking and screaming on how to set up a website and edit it (trying to help the hubs out with our ministry website)
• that secretly I want to get my Mary Kay going to the point I am making what I made while working at Regions ( I mean come on what woman wouldnt love working selling make up and skin care that actually works)
• that I cried hard this morning when one of our baby kitten died (not sure what happened)

???

So I have another possibly gray area to bring up. (I like doing these gets you to really think). I have been watching Sister Wives on TLC. I know I know some would disapprove but anyways I am grown and its a clean show. First of lets just get this out of the way, I dont approve or agree of their lifestyle and how they choose to live. I dont think its right and they shouldnt be living this way. Okay now that that is over, What are everyones thoughts on the present investigation into their lives? I understand that it is illegal to practice polygamy in Utah and that by doing the show it would open up a huge can of worms. However I do not believe that they should be prosecuted for it. That their lifestyle is because of a religious belief and practice. This isnt something they are claiming to be just to get away with whatever they want, from all appearances (and I know appearances can be decieving) they truly believe this is the right way for them to live. All the wives are consenting adults when they were "married" there is no child abuse of any kind present (sexual, emotional, physical, physcological) that we can tell. They are not forcing their children into this lifestyle and marrying them underage and to older men that have several wives. All of his wives were from what I personally can remember them saying on the show raised this way and in this belief and many at least 3 of them had sister wife mothers if I remember correctly. I mean you can be gay, you can be straight and have several sexual partners and even have children with multiple people and stay that way and continue to see multiple people and not be prosecuted. I know that he is legally married and that take it to a different level, but what is the difference between that and an open marriage. If you agree to be in an open marriage where you see other people there may be at times for periods of time where one person is seeing someone else or sleeping around. Like I said I dont agree with what they are doing and how they are living their life but I also dont think that they should be prosecuted and sent to jail and the family all split up. I mean arent we in American trying to keep the family unit together and dont we (as in America we) teach tolerance to others such as bobby who has the two mommies or susie who has two daddies, or sally whose mommy sleeps around and has several sexual parteners, or johnny who has no daddy  or might have a daddy but no mommy and yet their parents are not proscuted for living a different lifestyle of their own choosing. Shouldnt their religious beliefs although not the norm be protected by our constitution. Isnt this considered where the government is stepping in and saying you can believe this this isnt a religious practice we approve of and for lack of a better term going against what our forefathers wanted with the seperation of church and state (i know thats not in the constitution or anything like that and that it was written in a private letter i know i know; like i said lack of a better term) Anyways would be curious to hear other peoples thoughts

Probably going to get shot or something....

I know that what I am about to write is very very controversial and will probably result in some not so nice feelings towards me but oh well this is my blog and for this blog I am putting into the age old rule that "if you cant say something nice, dont say something at all" I dont say this to be like I am right and you are wrong in the feelings because this kind of confusing even for me.

The death of Osama Bin Laden brings up for me many  mixed emotions. While I am relieved and excited and happy that he is no longer able himself to make plans and carry out terriost actions and that we can sleep a little more peacefully at night knowing he is gone; and yet at the same time my heart breaks to know he is spending all of eternity in hell and that someone that God loved so much that He sent His own son to die for him would reject him and would choose to not accept the gift and sacrifice that God made for him and to choose to spend eternity away from God breaks my heart and brings me almost to tears. I know that he is responsible for the deaths of countless and priceless men, women, and children and I know that he had to be brought to justice and even death I understand that and even the Bible talks about if you take a mans life so shall your life be taken and I agree that he should have been put to death, killed, assasinated, (however you would like to term it) but I also know that someone should have been able to share the gospel with him and give him the chance to accept Christ. Thats the God I serve that no matter what you have done where you have been or what you are doing He can and will forgive you and save you and then when you die you will go to heaven. That doesnt mean he didnt have to pay for what he did if he became a christian. Salvation is not a get out jail free card here on earth. You still have to pay for your actions that you choose to do and if its breaking the law murder terriost acts than there are dire consquences and can lead to their death as well. I am happy and excited and am so thankful that Osama is dead and that he has recieved his earthly justice but I do know that it breaks God heart that Osama choose not to follow him and to love him and serve him. My heart has been broken for this man's salvation since 9/11 again I am not saying he should not have been punished he definitely deserved to be punished and severely and with his life but to know that unless he cried out to God before he died that Osama is spending all of eternity in utter torment and pain and suffering. I know that I will most likely recieve a lot of flack for this and I expect it. I do also know that in God's eyes sin is sin, that murder is no more severe than lying and that stealing is the same as adultry. So if we would judge the world in Gods standards than those who do not accept the gift of salvation no matter how good of a person they are and that no matter that they never broke the law or did anything wrong in the the worlds eyes they are no different than Osama that the man who cheats on his taxes and steals money from the government and never repents and makes it right and rejects God is no different the Osama who killed countless lives.

Again I say that I AM GLAD THAT HE IS DEAD! But my heart is broken over the fact that he is eternally sepereated from God and will never know the saving knowledge of Jesus.

SWW 04-20-2011

This week...


So What if I dont have anything to say so what to...

I know I know short and sweet but really this week there isnt much that I can say I have to spend sometime later this week to post an updated blog.

SWW!!!! 04-13-11

So what

• if thisis actually thursday not wednesday I got busy
• if i am watching greys anatomy (all of them) again for the 5th time
• if i want to start my own baby registry it is fun helping my best friend do hers and i like to dream
• if i am proud of the the pretty flowers/weeds growing in in my flower beds (i am not sure what they are)
• that while my husband thinks of my nieces as being a good form of birth control it makes me want to have children even more
• if i am excited about going to the park for my nieces birthday
• if i decided that i am never going to get any older than 25
• if my whole house is cleaned except for all our dishes and i do mean almost quite literally all our dishes
• if i have about a months worth of laundry piling up in our laundry room and our bedroom
• if i am already plannng my one year anniversary and its 6 months away and we have yet to go on our honeymoon
• if i have a lot of great projects and ideas and some of them are started around the house but none are finished (i think i have a slight touch of a.d.d. when it comes to projects)
• if i like the house freezing cold even though it means myhubs always wears long sleeves or sits in his office with the air off (yes i keep blankets and sweaters out for him so that he can be in the living room at night)

SWW 04/06/11

This week I am saying so what to...

• starting this blog on monday
• finding McDonalds kind of magical (it was as a child)
• feeling slightly more complete finding Lily's kittens
• wearing a fake tattoo, my 3 yr old niece picked it out
• watching Everybody's Baby: The rescue of Jessica McClure

I love writing this weekly blog.

SWW 03-30-11

So What If:

• its 830 and dinner is just now being cooked
• I have to go get my new couch in the morning and our 2 couches are still sitting in the living room
• its 830 and I have to move our 2 couches and still eat dinner and get up by 7 in the am
• if my favorite movie is called "everybody's baby: the rescue of Jessica McClure"
• not only is the above my favorite movie but that I have newspaper clippings and have watched almost every news story on her throughout her life.
• it's now 10 and I havent finished this blog
• my 2 favorite days of the week is Wed. & Thurs. b/c of So what wednesday and Greys anatonmy
• secretly I was estatic that is was storming this morning so that my honey stayed home (i miss him when he's gone)
• I have only dated 2 men and I married the second one!!!

SO WHAT WEDNESDAY!!!!

I have seen a lot of these and I am going to start doing this!!! So I am saying SO WHAT to...

• I miss my husband terribly when he is at the church working two days a wee
• I still havent completely unpacked after moving in almost 6 months ago (I have at least 10 yrs b4 we move)
• I am selling Mary Kay right now mostly for the 50% discount I get personally
• I can't wait until Extreme Couponing comes on TLC
• I just realized that I wrote the wrong wedding date in our guest book (hey I think I did it on our wedding day)
• I make my husband snuggle in the morning when he is a get up and go get 'em type guy

Anyways I hope yall enjoy this and I will have to figure it how to link this up with some other bloggers who do So What Wednesdays!!

Becoming,,,

What I know two posts in one day, I know, I know shocker but just hang on and enjoy. This weekend has been our womens conference at our church and we have tomorrow left. I will say that I was more challenged tonight thant any other speaker. (no I am not biased about the speaker(she was my pastors wife)) Kristen really challenged me tonight to adopt an orphan (defined as those who have not yet believed in God) and that my orphan could be my neighbors or coworkers. Well I am sitting there thinking my immediate neighbors are my amazing inlaws and this incredible christian couple and their 12 kids. We than have two more neighbors at the front of our driveway (we live on a private drive and have 4 neighbors by us we are at the end though) I have meet only one of those and it was under pleasant bad circumstances; more to come on that. While the others I havent meet yet. And if you dont already know its been almost a year since I have worked. So tonight I sat there thinking who is my orphan? So of course God picks the one neighbor that was met under the circumstance. What makes it so hard about this neighbor is that the ony encounter I had with them was the day that He smacks into the side of our van with his lawnmower and gets off and starts cussing me out and yelling at me (again he smacked into us) and it ended causing over 1300 dollars of damage to our car and only about 400 dollars damage to his lawn mower and yelling at us called at that time my future fil and tried to blame it all on me and than getting off the phone continues to yell at me and this continues for a couple of minutes until jeremy (who he adores) is like this is my fiance and i dont appreciate how you are talking to her and of course than his whole tone and attitude changed now that I am not just some worker of Jeremys. So to say the least sometimes being nice to him is the easiest thing or the first thing to come to me. So know God is working on the resentment I feel towards to him. This should be interesting.

Blahhh!

I have felt kinda blah the past week and a half. I am glad that I have my blog where I can be real and if you dont like it dont read it. Here I can express things that I need to get off my chest. The past few weeks it is really hitting me hard that I am not pregnant yet. I know its only been about 5 1/2 months since we got married but we basically have been trying since day 1. We already knew that it would be almost impossible to get pregnant by ourselfs but we serve a big God and having a baby isnt a big thing for God. He can do anything He can give my husband and I baby right now or He could have given us one right after we got married. I cant even tell you how many pregnancy tests I have taken in 5 months and I know it should be what like 5 one fore each month.... but I have always heard you want to take two at a time to be sure and usually its two different brands. Of course taking two a couple of different times a month because I would convince myself its just been too soon to tell so I would take them a little closer or after I should have had a period and every time they came out negative or AF came to visit it would just break my heart. It scares me at times because there are two things I have wanted in life since as far back I can remember and that was to be married (and I am married to my absolute best friend in the world) and to be a mommy. Of course my plans have would have been to meet Jeremy when I was 17 or 18 get married right away after highschool and to have babies right away but God had other things for us to do before we got married and I wouldnt trade it for anything in the world (by the way I know my grammar is impeccable to be desired but dont judge me today). I know I know people are probably like well you knew going in that you would have a hard time getting pregnant if you could naturally but we just really believe that God will heal him (my hubby) and give us the baby(ies) we desire to have. We have the names picked out even have a few little onsies. It woudl also thrill my in laws as of right now we are their hope of having grandbabies and they my mil is so ready to have grandbabies and to be honest my parents (especially my dad) would be thrilled with a little grandson. Regardless they will be happy whether its a boy or a girl. I just cant wait until its my turn and I get to announce that I am expecting and we are going to have a baby. While I have some feeligns on when it really is in Gods hands and while that should give me peace I wish it could just be the old fashioned way, because lets face it it is really cool thinking that out of the most intimate gift God can give two people comes the miracle of life and yet that has been robbed from my husband and I. While Jeremy has had more time to deal with the reality of the possiblity of never being able to have a child biological I havent had as much time, now dont get me wrong this is in no way a deal breaker for us. I knew full well that we would probably never have children naturally well before we got married in fact it was before we even began dating he felt that he needed to be open with me about it. I know we serve a big God and He alone can heal what is broken to create our little babies between the two of us and if we needto have our babies thru adoption our hearts are more than open to that. Although I struggle sometimes with while it is definitely something I have always thought about it makes me sometimes second guess if that is my hagar and ishmel. I dont want to try and help God out. I know that God will help us decide the right time to pursue fertility specialist and or adoption at the right time.

Grandma Katie?!

Confusing title I know considering to be a grandma you have to have children first and we havent been married long enough to even have children. However we do claim our animals as our four legged children before we put Molly outside we had two stray cats that came to visit and our littlest cat Lily and the male stray cat apparently visited a little to well. In the past couple of weeks I have noticed a rounder belly and more time spent on our back porch sleeping. Right now she is sitting in our animal carrier sleeping (very unusual for her). I would guess that sometime in the next couple of weeks we will be having kittens. So I will be a grandma. Shortly after though be looking for a free kittens post. Jeremy says he will be sad happy to see them go.

On other news, I haven't been sticking to my self-committment to blog everyday. I have been doing much better about blogging and keeping it up. While its been hit and miss with blogging I have done much better with doing my devotions every morning and taking my vitamins which I have to admit makes a big difference in how I feel. I feel like my day is in order more and that I have better successful day with starting it right with my time with God.


The atkins change has kinda gotta thrown out the window. We are changing it up a little by adding more fruits and vegetables and yogurt. We still have pretty much elminated all the sugar in our lives and still most of our carbs like breads and pasta and we also eliminated most of the caffine in our lives with the exception of our morning cup of coffee. We do feel better already with just adding the vitamins and eliminating what we have. It really has made a difference with how I feel. I especially love the difference the B-12 I have been taking. It really boosts my energy. I was having a lot of problems getting up in the morning on time and it was a real struggle no matter how much or how little sleep I got. It made no difference. Well I have been taking the B-12 for about 10 days and everyday I have been sleeping better and been able to get up on time and even early and our mornings have been running even more smoothly. 

In my daily Bible reading I finished Esther and started reading Job and all I can say is maybe we should be a little thankful for the troubles in our lives if we know we have been following God's plan for our lives. Job was a righteous and that was the whole just of why he had everything happen. He was a righteous man that honored God and satan didn't believe he would continue to honor God when everything was taken away and basically he lost everything except for his life. His wife even told him just curse God and die. I mean what was she thinking. I am really learning a lot about Job and although I have known the story my whole life reading it again as an adult and having gone thru what I have it makes me wonder if I have done everything to still honor God in everything I dealt with. Well this is all for now I have taken more than enough of your time to read this. Until next time;

Katie

Are you Trusting?

Today sitting out on the back porch doing my devotions, I started reading Proverbs 3. I read a Proverbs a day. In Proverbs 3 it has the famous verses "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not into your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6). This morning especially it made me think and ask myself "Do I really trust God with all my heart or do I lean on my own understanding  and try to do it myself? Do I acknowledge Him in everything and let Him direct my paths? Or more often do I try to control it myself and make it happen myself. I challenged myself today to really trust God more and to acknowledge Him in everything I do.


I also started reading the book Esther yesterday and I am just amazed again as I am always with Esther. To really realize what this young woman went thru and when she was taken from her home and forced to live in the palace and go thru all the beauty processes, knowing that it came down to a night with the king and not just a night of talking and reading it was a night of sex and as a young Jewish girl to know that she was going to have to compromise her innocence and her purity and most likely not be chosen to be queen. To know that after that one night she might just be the kings whore (in today's language) that her only job very well might have been for the rest of her life to please the king in such a manner at his beck and call and to never have a family was heartbreaking I am sure for her. But She trusted God with all her heart and and even though it wasn't in her understanding to surrender that to give up most of her most highly prized (I am sure) to do something that she only imagined doing in the confines of her humble marriage to a typical Jewish man. I think that her life was summed up very well in what her cousin Mordecai said in Esther 4:14 "Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this" Esther had to endure and trust in God all the way so that she was in place in the palace in order to save her people the Jews from Haman's plan to kill all the Jews.

Spring into the New

So I am a day behind on my committment to blog everyday. Yesterday Jeremy and I kinda started doing atkins and we are kinda faltered towards the end of yesterday as I need to do some major grocery shopping and than we can really kick it off with the right foods. Although we kinda dropped the ball there I have been able to keep myself going with a personal goal and that is to get up and read my bible every morning before I start my day off. It has been wonderful to get up and before my day gets going. It has really been great to sit on my back porch and read my bible and drink my coffee. It has been great having my time with Jesus in the morning and get my day going the right way. I feel more productive with everything and I am able to accomplish what I need to. I want to start blogging a lot of what I feel like God is speaking to me as well and what I can share.

My verse today was

Psalm 45:13  "The royal daughter is all glorious within the palace;

Her clothing is woven with gold." NKJV


As a believer in God and He being the King of Kings that makes me a royal daughter. It means that I am glorious and that while my physical clothes of course arent woven in gold I am a precious daughter of the king. and I live a very blessed life by being obedience to God's will to the best of my ability and to honor Him in all I do.

2-26-2003

Dear Mom,

Wow! 8 years has flown by quick and I feel like I have lived a lifetime in those years. After I moved back here from Iowa got involved in a home church, experienced hurt from close friends, my first boyfriend; and consquently my first heartbreak. I moved into my first apartment and lived there 3 years. I went back to college and had to quit again. I than a little over a year ago meet an unusual fellow and I didnt know how much my life would change. I meet Jeremy and we quickly fell in love and got married almost 5 months ago. I wish you could have been there. It was a small wedding but you would love Jeremy and his parents. God really knew what He was doing when He created Jeremy for me and vice versa. I cant believe how good God is to me. I am able to stay at home with him and hopefully before too much longer we will have babies. right now though we have our hands full with a very active 8 1/2 month labador named Molly. Madison your grandbaby just turned 3 and she is very much a callow woman already. LOL. She is such a funny little girl. I miss you very much and wish you were just a phone call away because many times I wish I could pick up the phone and call you but I know heaven doesnt have any phones and if it did I am not sure I could afford that phone call. I do miss you very much and I love you and miss you everyday.

Love,
Katie

Back to the basics!

For those who didnt know my mil and fil host a home group for their church, while its been just us and them I have throughly enjoyed it. The series is on worship. Tonight was a tough one (forgot my steel toed boots). The main point that hit home was the first thing talked about, the idols we put up in our life the things we want (i.e. our desires) as we were talking it hit me, I want JESUS and... My Will (at least for me). I realized that I want Gods best for my life but I want it in a way that makes sure that I get what I selfishly want. Not that the desires I want are bad or that they aren't in God's ultimate will and plan for my life; but do I want those things more; do I let my desires or even my laziness get in between me and my Heavenly Fathers plan for my life. I know that I have a lot of work to do and I know that I am guilty of many times putting my will and desires and selfishness and laziness ahead of what God wants me to do. If all God wanted me to do was get saved He would have called me to heaven almost 20 years ago; however He has a bigger plan for my life. I know it hasnt happened the way I thought it should or looked how it should and a lot of that is because of my selfish desires and will. I was challenged tonight to go deeper in my walk with God and to enter into worship more and longer periods of time. Also not to let my selfishness and will get in the way and stop me from where God is taking me. So I challenge all of you guys to go deeper, dig deeper, and put yourself last and God first.

Soap Box

Okay so there is something that bugs me so much and it came up around this past valentines day. (and no my honey didnt do anything wrong) I don't get these promise rings that boyfriends give girlfriends and vice versa. Growing up when a guy gave a girl a ring and a promis to get married it meant they were engaged and planning their lives together. It seems to me that if a guy gave me a "promise ring" and was like one day we will get married but was very clear that we werent engaged would be like a slap in my face as a pretend, practice committment. Come on guys if you really want to make that committment buy the ring and ask the question. Dont get a piddle ring and be like well we cant really afford to get married or in the future i will ask you to get married. Either make the commitment or dont make it. I cant blame you if you arent ready you arent ready and thats okay. Marriage is a big committment and shouldnt be entered into lightly so take your time and dont even make that type of committment lightly which is what I think of promise rings is a way to pacify your significant other. Step up to the plate and make a real committment or dont but dont play around with this. If my husband had given me a ring and said one day I promise you I will propose or one day years down the road we will get married I would have been hurt that he is leading me on and playing with my emotions. Either you want to or you dont or your sure or your not. If you dont or your not sure DONT DO IT. It makes it that much harder if for whatever reason the relationship didnt work out. Even if you cant afford to get married right now you can still ask the question and make the plans. A wedding doesnt have to be a big extravagant affair. Right before I got married my dad gave me the best advice about the wedding (this was about one week before the wedding) dont worry about the small stuff dont worry about anyone else you have a pastor you have a dress and jeremy has a tux you got it handled. When it all boils down a wedding is about you and your loved one and the committment and covenant vow you make between you guys and God. okay okay enough for now all though it does really irk me when i see this in relationships because it is just excuse to not having to make a serious committment and be a man/responsible adult...okay okay really I am done now.

"The course of true love never did run smooth" William Shakespeare.

Taking a step out into the open...

I am about to write one of the most revealing open book blog I have ever wrote. Not very many people know about the situation I am about to write. I feel vunerable and exposed writing this but I believe hopefully this will reach someone else facing this same issue now or in the future. Anybody who knows myself or my husband knows that we both love children and want babies of our own. We have even picked out baby names one for a little boy named after his grandpas and his daddy and 2 little girls one after my mom and one that I came across one day while still working at the bank. We are eager to add children to our family as we are financial farther ahead than most newlyweds our age or even some not so newlyweds. We own our home with 3 extra bedrooms right now that are ready for a baby. BUT... we were told that we would not be able to have children. We have looked into adoption but the cost is almost a years worth of income and would mean that it would be 5 or 6 years before we could even look at the possibility of adopting a child and we know that we will also face a little more of a challenge as some adoption agencies require life insurance and both of us because of family medical history raises our life insurance rates sky high and also because of jeremys cerebal palsy he also has a hard time getting life insurance. We also know that we serve a HUGE GOD one that is bigger than our problems or impossibilities HE is a GOD of POSSIBILITIES. So we are trusting that God can overcome any and all of our impossibilites and that we can have our own biological child but we also know that if God chooses us to adopt our children we are open to that we just will have to be patient in waiting for the money as we want to do this debt free and we are hoping to be debt free by the end of the year. We also know that we need a better running vehicle before we have children and we also need as stated in the previous post to get ourselves in better shape for children. We are also believing for a complete healing for Jeremy from all of his cerebal palsy before we have children while we would be thrilled to find out today that we are pregnant but God is in control and we know what we will follow God's plan for our life for everything that God has for us like children and where we will live and work in ministry.

Blog Makeover

I was reading a new blog tonight from a dear lady at at our church, it gave me such an inspiration to blog even more and to do a blog makeover. I am impressed with it how it turned out in looks, lets just hope the inspiration to blog more kicks into reality. I am going to start blogging even tidbits like recipes to try, quotes I come across, scriptures or just random thoughts throughout the day. Coming in March hopefully it will also be more productive as Jeremy and I are going to do a lifestyle change with what we eat and start doing a low carb lifestyle. It has hit more and more since we have been married at least for me that its not just about me anymore that I cant live my life how I want especially including how I treat my body another thing is how the bible talks about that our body is the temple of the holy spirit and that I need to treat it better and take care of what God has given me physically, finacially, spiritually, and emtionally. Also being in better shape will help with getting pregnant, delivering babies, raising children and gives me more energy to spend more time with my honey. Also it can add years to my life and help reduce the chance of developing diabetes and heart problems and even certain types of cancer and of course just the over all improvement of health. I am so excited not just for the fact of losing weight but for the fact that there is so much yummy food to eat and not feeling like i am depriving myself of food.

Unforgettable!

Thats how I can only describe this past few days. Jeremy and I started (mostly me) celebrating valentines early as we were excited that this was our first married valentines. I gave him an early card with a starbucks giftcard. Unfortunately my honey was plagued on and off with severe stomach pain all last week would be there one day and not the next day. Well we had plans for our family to come over on Friday for my 25th birthday and while he was still having pain Jeremy was insistent that we have the party and not to think another thing about it. Well about 3:30 Thursday morning Jeremy wakes up and cant take it any longer and we go up to the er to see what is going on. (I had my suspicions thinking it was his gallbladder). After several hours and a doctor that wasnt impressive or that would listen the culprit was a hernia. After talking to the surgeon and finding that the hernia was not emergent we would have to wait to get it operated on; in fact we have our meeting with the surgeon this upcoming thursday. Well as it is Jeremy was still off his game thursday night but after spending almost 12 hours in the er he and angela venture to walmsrt and he picks out my birthday gift and all my valentines gifts. I told him he was excused this one time (lol). He said nope there wasnt any excuse.So oue first valentines married and my first married birthday would totally be unforgettable.

For my birthday I got a food scale that I finally decided I wanted. Valentines included 2 cards, a box of chocolates, a soft teddy bear, a set of red candles, and a half dozen yellow roses (which is my absolute favorite) which he is the only one who has been able to buy them for me. I got him a gift card to starbucks and home depot (his favorite store) a dozen chocolate covered strawberries from edible arrangements with valentine ballons, love monkeys from winn dixie, and well some other married fun items that will have to wait until after he heals from hernia surgery. As for dinner we are planning that as well for when he heals from surgery. All in all this is still one of the best valentines days I have ever had and I amso glad to have my forever valentine with Jeremy. He truly blesses me and loves me so much.

treasure hunt!

In a frantic to find my last years taxes I unearthed some old papers emails I had received and msc I am going to put on here. Right now I only have a couple of them ready to put up. The first one just makes you think about the value of time and irreplaceable relationships.

To realize the value of a sister;
Ask someone who doesn't have one

To realize the value of ten years;
Ask the newly divorced couple

To realize the value of 4 years;
Ask a graduate

To realize the value of one year;
Ask a student who has failed a final exam

To realize the value of one month;
Ask the mother who has just given birth to a premature baby

To realize the value of one week;
Ask an editor  of a weekly newspaper

To realize the value of one hour;
Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet

To realize the value of one minute;
Ask the person who has missed the train, bus, or plane

To realize the value of one-second;
Ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics

To realize the value of a friend;
Lose one



Time waits for no one. Treasure every moment you have. You will treasure it even more when you can share it with someone special.

"Maybe"

Maybe God wanted us to meet the wrong people before meeting the right one so that when we finally meet the right person, we will know how to be grateful for that gift.


Maybe when the door of happiness closes, another opens, but often times we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one which has been opened for us.

Maybe the best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.

Maybe it is true that we don't know what we have until we lose it, but it is also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives.

Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they will love you back. Don't expect love in return; just wait for it to grow in their heart; but if it does not, be content it grew in yours.

It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone, an hour to like someone, and a day to love someone, but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.

Don't go for looks; they can deceive. Don't go for wealth; even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you smile because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright. Find the one that makes your heart smile.

There are moments in life when you miss someone so much that you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them for real.

Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; and be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to make you happy.

Always put yourself in others' shoes. If you feel that it hurts you, it probably hurts the other person, too.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

Happiness lies for those who cry, those who hurt, those who have searched, and those who have tried, for only they can appreciate the importance of people who have touched their lives.

Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss, and ends with a tear.

The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past, you can't go on well in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you are the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.