How Bizarre

I’ve been having the WEIRDEST dreams the past couple of nights. I don’t know if my sleep patterns have been different because of the warmer weather or what, but for some reason, my mind is doing strange things in its subconscious state.
Last night I dreamt that I “rescued” a bird that was supposed to be stuffed… like it already had been, but I saw its eyes moving and so I took it off its stand and made it my pet. It was like the perfect pet bird – didn’t fly or eat or poop or anything – just hopped around a little bit and chirped at me. Weird.
Then I had a dream that my best friend Susie, who is getting married in August, and I were sitting on a couch at a party. She told me that she was moving to Iwo Jima after they get married. Iwo Jima? Where does my mind come up with these things? In my dream it made sense, though, because her fiancé is from Hong Kong. I know, I know, Iwo Jima is NOT in Hong Kong, but in my dream it was perfectly clear. And I was SO sad, because she was going to be even farther away than Phoenix.
How weird. Wonder if they mean anything??

Tagged

Oops! Didn’t realize I had been tagged, first by Heather and now by Sara! So here goes…

INSTRUCTIONS: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so...

1)Newlywed Bliss
2)Our Life Together
3)Life as the Mr and Mrs Plus One
4)Life is Good
5)More Than Just a Bowl of Cherries

Next select five people to tag: I think I’m about one of the last ones to do this, so if you haven’t been tagged yet, you’re it! (Rachel, I don't think you've done this one yet!)

What were you doing 10 years ago?
10 years ago I was probably getting ready for my 8th grade graduation! And getting very excited about a summer of babysitting, seeing Troy (oh, the puppy love!), and looking forward to starting high school

What were you doing 1 year ago?
Last year at this time we had just gotten back from camping with my sister and BIL for Memorial Day weekend. We were so sunburnt! Infertility-wise, I wanted to start seeing a specialist because it had been almost a year since we had gone off of bc, but we decided to wait until after Troy was done with school.

Five snacks you enjoy:
1. Pretty much anything salty! Chips and salsa or guacamole is a favorite
2. Rold Gold Honey Wheat pretzels (these are sitting on my desk right now!)
3. Raw veggies and dip (baby carrots, broccoli, and mushrooms are my fave)
4. Cheese. Yum.
5. Anything with dark chocolate in/on it!

Five songs that you know all the lyrics to:
1. Stained Glass Masquerade (Casting Crowns)
2. When You Say You Love Me (Josh Groban)
3. From This Moment On (Shania Twain)
4. Inspiration (Chicago)
5. One Headlight (Wallflowers – oh yeah, these last 2 go WAY back!)

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
1. Adopt! Like crazy!
2. Go for a few rounds of IUI and maybe IVF… maybe even with adopted embryos
3. Build a BIG house and buy a big SUV for all of our kids :)
4. Give, give, give – to our families and friends and churches and other Christian organizations
5. Go on lots of self-supported missions trips

Five bad habits:
1. Filling out silly things like this when I’m supposed to be working
2. Not exercising regularly (ditto, Sara)
3. Not answering the phone if it’s someone I don’t feel like talking to at the moment (isn’t that horrible??!)
4. Putting off doing the dishes until I absolutely HAVE to
5. Assuming the best about everyone/always giving the benefit of the doubt – sometimes this CAN be a bad thing

Five things you like doing:
1. Pretty much anything with my hubby
2. Stamping/making cute cards to give away
3. Going out in our boat (which we did yesterday! Yay!)
4. Going out for coffee with my sister
5. Traveling

Five things you would never wear again:
1. Anything neon colored
2. “NOT” shirts (remember those?!)
3. leggings (no offense to those of you who can pull it off, but personally I could never do it again!)
4. The bridesmaid dress I wore for my cousin’s wedding
5. A side-ponytail

Five favorite toys (now):
1. My digital camera
2. My telescope
3. My keyboard (piano, not computer)
4. My MP3 player – couldn’t survive a run without it!
5. My pink razr – still liking it over a year later!

************

There, now that that's over with I can get on to a little weekend update. Ours was good - I just LOVE long weekends! I think it would be just perfect to have a 3-day weekend every week. Saturday and Sunday were nothing spectacular, although we did have a bonfire with the youth group on Sunday evening. They were SO wound up... wow, we didn't realize how much a little bit of Mountain Dew and some roasted marshmallows would do! It was fun though. ;) And then yesterday we got to spend quite a bit of time with my family and took the boat out, as I said above, and it was just fabulous. I have some fun pictures but of course they're still sitting at home on the camera. Just makes me really excited about this summer, though. We just love summers! There's so much to do outside together, and we just love that. We enjoy sitting inside watching movies and stuff during the winter too, but really nothing beats being outside spending quality time together. :)
This Saturday is my SIL-to-be's bridal shower, followed by a little combined bachelor/bachelorette party at the park. Should be fun. So this week will be busy with getting everything ready for the shower. My MIL and I are the hostesses, so I hope everything goes okay! We were so focused on Troy's graduation that we didn't get the invitations out until a couple of weeks ago, so I hope we still have a good turnout.
Other than that, not too much going on this week. I finally got a reprieve from the period from Hades. Ugh. If my body is going to keep this up I'd seriously consider going on the pill, just to get a little regulation - it's THAT miserable having a period for 3/4 of a month with no reason. So hopefully it will give me a few weeks off now before starting another one. :P NOT fun. But we talked and decided to go ahead with all the testing next cycle, especially now that we don't know for sure that we're going to be around here much longer, and we'd kind of like to at least be able to do all the preliminary testing/consultations with one Dr.'s office. It's kind of complicated being in limbo right now. I'm sure there are some great RE's in Detroit, but we'd like to do a little more here as long as we have the ball rolling.
OK, I really need to get some work done. It's piling up on my desk and I've done next to nothing all day!

Posting because I feel the urge

...even though I really don't have anything to say! :) Busy week at work, but thank the Lord it's Friday and we have a 3-day weekend coming!
I'm excited for this weekend. Troy's shop is slow this week, so he's only working 10-2 today - which is AWESOME! - so we're going out for a Fish Fry tonight with the sister and BIL. Then we really don't have any other plans for the rest of the weekend, besides HOPEFULLY getting the boat out on some water on Monday. Someone was telling me about a lake around here that we've never been to, so we might just pack up a lunch and some fishing poles (for Troy, not me) and check it out. I seriously need to work on my tan! These summer weddings are coming up fast - and who wants to be white as a sheet in a bridesmaid's dress?!
We had some excitement last night with no water in the house... I had been out with my sister, and didn't get home until after 11:00, and Troy was still at work. So I go up the stairs and there's like a 5-gallon bucket of water sitting there, with all kinds of leaves and floaties in it, and a watering can. At first I thought maybe the landlords were going out of town for the weekend and wanted us to water their plants or something. But no. I get to the door and there's a note. Apparently they had some kind of water pipe problem, and the water was turned off. So yes, that meant no shower for Troy after getting home (and he gets dirty at work - he works in a steel factory - you do the math), and no shower for me in the morning before work. But get this. In the note they said, "you can use this water to wash up in the morning." !!! LOL!!! Yeah, so that was NOT going to happen. I just had to laugh, because seriously, it's always something with them. Either the water's turned off or they need us to lock the cats in the bedroom so they can work on the door or SOMETHING. So I laughed and called up my sister to see if we could come borrow their shower when Troy got home. And of course she said yes (they live all of 4 blocks away)... so we traipsed over there at midnight with all of our shower stuff and borrowed their running water. Sheesh. :) Thankfully it's back up and running already today though!
I think that's about all I've got for today. I told you I had nothing to say! ;)

Happy Memorial Day weekend!!!

The Rest of the Story

Monday, 5/14/07 – Troy receives an email from Pastor M in Warren Michigan, which reads, “Dear Troy, I wanted to meet you during the graduation festivities, but our paths did not seem to cross. David M is my son and he has recommended you to me. I would like to discuss a ministry opportunity with you. Could you please send me a phone # and an appropriate time to call? Thanks.”
So Troy replies to Pastor M’s email, gives him a phone number and good time to call.
Tuesday, 5/15/07 – Pastor M calls Troy. They talk for over 45 minutes. He tells Troy that they are looking for a person/couple to bring in and train, and work with them on starting a new church in the next 1-2 years. Pastor M asks him LOTS of questions and requests a resume.
Wednesday, 5/16/07 – Pastor M meets with deacons about Troy. They seem to like what they hear.
Thursday, 5/17/07 – Pastor M calls again, asks if Troy has finished the resume yet. Hmmm, Troy thought he would have a little longer than a DAY to finish it! But wow, this is moving right along!
Friday, 5/18/07 – Troy finishes and sends the resume, via email.
Saturday, 5/19/07 – Mrs. M calls Troy, looking for my phone number. Would I please call her back this evening, or she’ll try another time? I’m SO nervous, but I call her back, and we talk for over half an hour. Everything goes smoothly, and she seems like a VERY sweet lady.
Sunday, 5/20/07 – We sit down and talk to my parents about it after lunch. They’re excited for us, and promise to pray. After dinner we sit down and talk with our Pastor and his wife. They too are excited for us, and give us some great insight on a few things. (Troy’s parents had known for a few days already, as well as my sister and BIL)
Tuesday, 5/22/07 – Pastor M calls Troy. Would we come visit the church on Father’s Day weekend? Would Troy be willing to preach for the Sunday evening service? Would we also sing a duet for the service? Troy says he will talk to me first and let Pastor M know. Troy calls me and leaves a voicemail telling me all about it, and I call him back, trying not to hyperventilate, to let him know that that weekend is open, and we can plan on going!
Wednesday, 5/23/07 – Troy calls Pastor M to let him know we are planning to come for the weekend of June 15-17th.

And, that’s it in a nutshell.

What am I feeling? Oh boy. Aaaggghh!?!! I think sums it up pretty well. Nervous, EXCITED, a little scared… but most of all excited. It’s just crazy, because every little piece of the puzzle seems to be falling into place SO perfectly right now. This position is exactly what Troy and I were hoping and praying for, but had been told by other pastors that it didn’t exist. And yet here it is. So we’ll be going to Michigan to visit the church next month, and I’d imagine that shortly after that we will know whether it’s a go or not.
Silly me for being worried about not knowing where we were going. This has proven to me that, even if this opportunity doesn’t work out, God is going to show us where to go and what to do. I mean we didn’t even have to go out looking for this, it was literally dropped in our laps. Seems like such a God-thing. He’s already using it to work in our hearts and teach us to depend on Him even more.

SO exciting.

Quickie update

Well, this whole situation is just moving right along, so I’d like to fill you all in on the details, but I don’t have time right now. So I’ll post tomorrow with the whole story, or at least what we have of it right now. We still don’t have an answer as to whether it’s going to work out, and may not have that yet for a few months, but at this point things look rather promising. Crazy!

Our weekend was good – time spent together is ALWAYS nice! This week is shaping up to be busy at work and at home, so I think by this weekend we’ll be ready for an extra day off!

Last night I got out the ole’ telescope and got a good look at the moon, Saturn, and Jupiter (?) with its moons. VERY cool. Can’t wait to learn more and start seeing more!

AF will NOT LEAVE this month. Seriously. Day 14 today. Grrr. I’d like nothing more than to scream about it. :P

And that’s all I have time for. I’ll do better tomorrow, I promise!

Short random Friday post!

So it’s Friday. Ahhh. I am SO looking forward to when Troy and I are no longer on opposite schedules…. this only seeing each other for a couple hours a day thing – when he’s not in school anymore! – is crap. We’re close. Hopefully the week of Memorial Day he’ll be on first shift at the shop, and I think I can make it one more week. I seriously don’t know how some people go their entire married lives doing the opposite schedule thing – I sure wasn’t cut out to work that way!
So tonight while Troy’s working, I’m planning on going over to my sister’s – she has our nephew for the weekend, so I’m going to ogle over him for a little while. :) He’s almost crawling now, and getting such a little personality. Can’t believe he’s already 9 months! My SIL informed me that they plan on trying for #2 when he turns one, so I’m going to have to prepare for that… ugh. Anyway. This wasn’t intended to be that kind of post.
So then tomorrow we have a graduation party for my SIL-to-be, and really, besides church, that’s about the only plans we have for the weekend. Should be nice! It’s supposed to be nice tomorrow, so I’m hoping maybe we can break out the ole’ boat. Then it would REALLY feel like summer!
Still waiting to be a little more sure on the upcoming opportunity before I spill the beans… Troy sent his resume to the pastor today, per the pastor’s request (they had talked about it earlier in the week, but Troy thought he had a little more time… then the pastor called today wondering where it was). So this is moving so fast girls! So who knows what we’ll know by Monday. And we had an excellent heart to heart on lunch today. I was just sharing some of my concerns about really feeling nervous, and not sure if I was ready for this, and my sweet husband just reassured me that I AM ready, because I complete him and he completes me, and that whatever we lack, God is going to make up for. I’m so glad to have his reassuring confidence through this whole adventure, and I thank God for His help, too.

Waiting to exhale

Sorry to go MIA for a bit, there. I’m okay. I think going away for Mothers Day was probably the best possible thing that we could have done, and I’m so very glad that we did. I can honestly say that I hardly even remembered that it was Mothers Day… and yes, some may call that running from your problems, but, well, if that’s the case, then so be it. Because it was just exactly what we needed. The only damper was the over abundance of pregnant ladies… but even that was over-lookable since we were having such a great time. It really was a wonderful weekend. And apparently it was a very good thing that we were not at church on Sunday morning, because they did something new that would have left me… more than slightly flustered, to say the least. They had a baby parade. Any couple who had a baby in the last year got to take the baby up to the front, talk about the birth stats and all that, and well, just be doted on for a while. Can we say ouch? Yes, it was a cute idea, I’m not denying that. But if we had been there, and had to sit through that without any warning whatsoever… *sigh*… ouch. My sister and I were talking about the whole thing last night, and I was just realizing what a huge impact this whole infertility thing is going to have on whatever kind of ministry we are each involved with someday. And it will be a constant challenge to be understanding and compassionate – and even celebrating with them – on days like Mothers Day. I know that I am just going to have to completely put myself aside, and I know that it won’t be easy... but because of that, it will be a chance for God to show Himself strong in my life.
So… speaking of ministry “someday.” That day just might be closer than we were originally thinking. There’s a huge opportunity brewing… but since it’s very unsure at this point yet, we’re keeping it under wraps for the time being. We are SERIOUSLY praying about something that has been literally dropped in our laps just in the last couple of days… so I would really appreciate your prayers for wisdom and guidance. It would mean some big changes for us – not bad changes, but big ones. So we are really really holding our breath until we know more, because, well, this is exciting!
Did anyone watch the last episode of Gilmore Girls last night? Okay so Rory had a little freak-out session when she was at Lane’s about how everyone keeps telling her she’s ready for this, and she’s going to do great and all that, but she really didn’t feel like she was. And I was crying during that whole little segment because, basically that’s exactly how I was feeling. Like I KNOW that this is exactly what we’ve been waiting for, training for, praying about for the last 4 years and more, and yet when it’s actually right on top of us, I all of a sudden feel SO unready. Like this is it, this really could be happening, and yet for some reason as much as I want it to happen, and I’m SO excited about the thought of getting to jump into this head-first, I just don’t know if I can handle it! I mean, we’re 24 years old. That’s so young, yet at the same time, it should be old enough to be in a leadership position, right? It’s so scary. But of course at the same time, it’s incredibly exciting to see what God’s going to do with our lives. And even if this opportunity does not work out, it has really been good to just shake me up a little bit and remind me that, ultimately, this is the goal. I shouldn’t get too settled where I am, because God has bigger things in mind for us. We love our lives here, but we know that there is so much more that is in our future. And if nothing else, He is reminding me of my absolute need to completely rely on Him. We can’t do this on our own… and I KNOW He is faithful, and He really WILL guide us through every step of this.

…but still, it’s so… scary!

*******

Also if you have a chance to stop by Sara's blog and give her a hug, I'd appreciate it, and I'm sure she would too. She could use some kind words and lots of prayer right now.

an ostrich kind of day

I would really REALLY like to bury my head in the sand today. I have some strong suspicions that another one of the girls at work is pregnant. I happen to know for a fact that she and her husband JUST started trying, and yesterday she had a Dr’s appointment, and today she talked to me about some mysterious prescription that she had to pick up from the pharmacy… yes, it’s all adding up… and I really don’t want to deal with it today. So I’m just going to bury my head in the sand, and not come out for another 8 months or so. So now, I’ll officially be the last of the younger girls at work here to become a mommy. And I want to cry.
I mean, I love that some people are able to get pregnant right away. It’s great for them. And I love that a lot of girls around here lately have gotten pregnant after struggling for a long time. I LOVE it.

I just… want it to be my turn. And I hurt inside, and I want to let it out. Can I just be selfish that way for a little while?
And it SUCKS that we are going to struggle just to pay for the tests to be run to even find out just how infertile we are, and then pay a whole lot more to be able to make a baby – that most of the rest of the population gets to make for FREE, having FUN. Where is the fairness? And WHERE all this money going to come from?

Ugh. I can’t wait to get away this weekend. And bury my head some more.

Sorry to be a downer today... it's just how I'm feeling at the moment. I'm sure I'll feel much better after our weekend. Hope everyone else's weekends are fabulous.

RE Appointment Numero Uno

Reader’s Digest Condensed Version:
Basically what we expected.

Cherie’s Good Blog Friends Who Want to Hear All About It Version:
Looking back, it feels kind of surreal that after all that went wrong on the way/while we were there, completely beside the fact that we were there to begin with, we were able to laugh and joke together through the whole thing. Huh.
After waking up late (like 15 minutes before we planned to leave) we got a bit of a late start, but ended up making it there on time. So we get to the hospital and I think I know exactly where we were supposed to go… so we take the elevator to the 2nd floor of the Women’s Pavilion. And we get off the elevator, and read the sign “LABOR & DELIVERY.”
Ha ha. Is this some kind of sick joke or something??? So we’re kind of standing there, about to get back on the elevator to go down and ask the receptionist where we’re supposed to go, and a nice lady notices that we’re lost and takes us where we’re supposed to be. Duh, Cherie, Fertility Services is on the second floor of the hospital, NOT the second floor of the Women’s Pavilion. See, they are adjoining buildings, right next to each other with a shared lobby, but we had gone to the wrong side. Grr. At any rate. So they asked first thing if we had our insurance cards, and of course, we just switched insurance carriers at work as of May 1, so I didn’t have the new insurance info yet. Nothing. So we have to pay the $248 out of our pockets. And we were planning on this, so we had thought we would just put it on one of our credit cards for now. So I give the lady my credit card, and after waiting for that for about 5 minutes, she tells me that they’re having a glitch in their computer system and they can’t use my credit card. Can we pay with a check? Gulp. $248. Seriously. $248!!! Now granted, we ARE exceptionally poor right now since Troy wasn’t working much at all for the last few weeks of school… but seriously. We didn’t have an extra $248 sitting in our checking account. So I look at Troy like a deer in headlights… and he says, we’ll just transfer from savings. OK. Right, this will be okay, we’ll just transfer it from savings. Thank God we have that much in savings. So I write out the check. And we sit down in the waiting room. There is only one other couple waiting… Hispanic, probably mid-thirties… which totally surprises me since it seems like most Hispanic people can reproduce like rabbits. Terrible, I know. So we wait for no more than a couple of minutes and they call us back right away. First we meet with the nurse to go over our basic medical history. She was nice, and that lasted for about half an hour, and then we wait to meet the RE. So we’re sitting in this small room with a table, chairs, and a basically empty bookshelf. And you girls don’t know how torturous a room like that is for my husband. He’s basically ADHD, so to sit in a room like that for 15 minutes with NOTHING to do, could pretty much drive him crazy. So we start joking around, talking a little about what the nurse went over with us. And he says, “I feel bad for you – my questions are so much easier than yours. ‘Does it come up?’ Yup. ‘Does it come out?’ Yup. Check!” And I was laughing hysterically at that for the next 5 minutes or so. You know, you HAVE to be able to laugh at these things, don’t you? He just kills me! And then of course after that he said that he has to be careful what he says around me because he never knows what’s going to end up on a blog someplace. Tee hee. :) So finally the RE comes in. Young, probably not more than 5-7 years older than us. Big pretty rock on her finger. Cute short blonde hair, small frame, and very. very. professional. So we went over my menstrual history and our basic medical history again, and after talking all that through, she was able to basically prescribe a plan of action. Lots of blood tests and a vaginal ultrasound on day 3 of my next cycle (Yuck. Can we say yuck about the u/s during my period? Yuck.), the Clomid Challenge test from day 5-10, and then more blood tests and an HSG on day 10. And of course, testing for Troy. So that all lasted about 45 minutes, and then the nurse comes back in to explain what to expect with the tests, where to go, etc, etc, and then finally the insurance specialist comes in. Normally this is when we would find out how much they would cover, but since she didn’t HAVE any of that information, she couldn’t tell us much. In all it lasted about 2 hours, and we left feeling… glad to finally have starting things again, but like I said, we both thought it was basically what we were expecting. Not too much new information yet. So now, we have all that the tests to look forward to, and from there, hopefully we’ll know what we’re going to be dealing with. I was happy that one of the tests she suggested was that sugar-drink thing for PCOS… just because I’ve always wondered if that was a possibility, even though I don’t have all the typical symptoms. In the past, I had just the fasting test done, but this time they’re going to do that plus the sugar drink thing, where you drink the stuff and they draw blood an hour later and then again 2 hours later, and evaluate how your insulin reacts to all of that. So hopefully that will give them/us some definitive answers about PCOS. We were a bit disappointed with how impersonable the RE was, but I guess ultimately it doesn't really matter that she knows us personally as long as she's good at what she does. I guess we were just expecting that with something like infertility, you'd be a little more... kind as a doctor. But oh well. Overall we were impressed.
So.
I’m feeling… excited, I think. Just glad to get the ball rolling again. Unfortunately, after the tests are done I think we’re going to have to sit on them for a couple of months again just because we’re going to have such a crazy/busy/expensive summer. But I’m feeling hopeful again, that maybe we really could have a pregnancy sometime in the future. And she reassured us that we’re young. Yeah, there was a time where I thought I’d have 2 kids by the time I was 24, but this is okay. Really, we ARE young. And it’s all going to work out for the best. At least I feel like I can believe that right now. And I might as well enjoy those thoughts while they’re around.

What kind of coffee are you??!

You Are a Cappuccino

You're fun, outgoing, and you love to try anything new. However, you tend to have strong opinions on what you like. You are a total girly girly at heart - and prefer your coffee with good conversation. You're the type that seems complex to outsiders, but in reality, you are easy to please

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

He WILL direct our paths

This weekend was won.der.ful. So many people from all areas of Troy’s life came to the party on Saturday – his family, my family, church friends, co-workers, school friends and professors, and more! It was such a fantastic celebration of Troy and his accomplishments… I was (am!) SO proud of him. By Sunday we were both so physically and emotionally drained that after lunch and after Troy went flying with my brother (my graduation gift for him – he loved it :) we came home and crashed for 3 hours. And it never felt so good to sleep! My dad asked me on Friday after graduation how this day ranked in excitement in comparison to our wedding day… and it made me realize that for me, this was ALMOST as exciting as my wedding day. I don’t think that most people realized how huge of a deal this was for us… but it has been our LIVES for the past 4+ years (since we’ve been married, and before), so to have it over with is truly life changing for us. Aaahhhh, yes. He’s done.
Now this week we’re going to be focusing on the RE appointment (Wednesday!) and this weekend we have a wedding that Troy’s ushering in for one of his good friends, and then we’re going to celebrate with a night away on Saturday about an hour and a half away from home. I got us a 3 ½ star hotel (Radisson Paper Valley) for $55, thank you very much to Priceline.com. :) And it came at a good time, since Sunday is Mothers Day and I don’t think I will be up to much celebrating that after our RE appointment and getting focused back on making a baby. Not to mention at church they always do something special for the mothers and Pastor usually preaches a message on mothers/parenting. Ugh. No thanks. So needless to say I’m really looking forward to being away.
Then… I’ve just been thinking about how now that Troy’s officially done with college how we’re at a totally new place in our lives… and it’s kind of scary. We know, of course, that God is going to show us the way, but when we’re the ones in limbo, not really sure what’s coming next and looking for concrete answers, it’s a little bit hard not to be anxious. I mean, we really have NO CLUE what’s next. We have a few ideas… some ours, some maybe not, but when it comes to actually knowing what/where/when/how we’re supposed to take the next step… we are almost totally directionless. More school? Maybe. And where – here or half the country away? Jump into ministry right away? Possibly. Wait and just work and pay off some bills before doing either of the other two? Could that be the answer? Who knows. And then there’s the whole baby issue. Do we do the whole fertility treatment thing right away? Start saving for adoption and start the process right away? Or wait and don’t do either one yet? Save for a house? And when I realize that it is completely up to us to make these decisions, and to figure out where it is that God is leading us, it makes me feel all grown up, and yet at the same time, almost like a little girl because in reality I have so very little control over what ultimately happens. I can honestly say that I am clinging to the verse in Proverbs that says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
Lord, PLEASE, direct our paths.


NOW... for pictures! Proof that he REALLY did graduate! :) ...

Us at Baccalaureate:

Pomp and Circumstance!:

Switching over the tassle:

Singing "Rise Up Oh Men of God" with classmates (Troy's 4th from the left):

We did it!

Troy and his parents:














The whole B family (his brothers Keith and Tim on the left):














Our fancy post-graduation lunch... at McDonalds! (my parents on the left, sister Missy and BIL Matt on right):















Troy and my brother Caleb before the party on Saturday:














Whew! Exhausted after the party:

Aaaaaahhhhh

If you can’t tell, that’s me breathing a HUGE sigh of relief. He did it. As of 1:24 this afternoon, Troy completed his college education. As proof, here is an excerpt from his email to me today:

I did it toots!!!!!!!

:) That right there says it all, doesn’t it??! So tomorrow will be busy with graduate’s luncheon (put on by the college) and baccalaureate, and of course Friday is graduation, and then Saturday is the big party! Some of his family is traveling from Michigan to come the party, so I’m sure we’ll be squeezing in time with them when we can. So since I won’t be back to work, and therefore on blogger, until probably Monday, hope all you sweet girls have wonderful weekends, and a big congrats to all the girls who recently are most assuredly knocked up!