Filling in the Gap

Wow! I can scarcely believe that my last post was as long ago as it was!!

Let's see if I can summarize the past few months:

In June I began college classes at a community college. I am working on my associate's degree, but the end hope finds me with a Master of Arts in Counseling. I have a loooong way to go! Unfortunately, my financial aid fell through for Fall Quarter and now I may need to rethink my college plans... at any rate it will take longer than I anticipated to get from my associates to my masters. I took Intro to Psychology I, Cultural Diversity & Racism, FYE, and Speech over Summer Quarter. Classes lasted through the second week of August. Pretty much all of my time was devoted to studying, researching, and writing papers. My fabulous husband really stepped up to the plate, helping me clean up around the house, and cooking EVERY meal ate at home during the quarter. I finished the quarter with a 4.0 GPA, and a very sensible dose of self-esteem! Hopefully, the situation with financial aid will straighten itself out before Winter Quarter begins. If not, we have some back up plans.

My final class was on August 12th. That evening I picked up my if-I-could-adopt-a-little-brother "brother" Vance and a friend of his, and we left for Florida. We went down to volunteer at a Back to School Bash that an old friend of mine helps to coordinate. We also went down to spend time at the beach!

The one to the left of me is Vance, then yours truly, Mike (who is my friend who coordinated the event) and Josh on the right. There were 9,000 stuffed backpacks that we were helping to give away to kids in Central Florida. Last year the line was over 2 miles long. This year they expected 25,000 people to come for help. Free haircuts, immunizations, eye screenings, and health screenings were provided.







We went to New Smyrna beach, and we hung out with my aunt & uncle and cousins in Winter Springs. We went bowling, and went to Wonder Works in Orlando. I took them to the house I grew up in at our old subdivision. It was vacant and had a foreclosed sign on it, so they went exploring the outside. We went into the backyard and I was so disheartened to see that one of the former owners removed the in-ground pool! I have a lot of fond childhood memories from that house, it was so sad to see it rundown.



<-- Vance & Josh hamming it up at New Smyrna Beach

Vance & me at the beach

Then we left Florida and went to Virginia and spent a couple nights at my parents' home. They hadn't seen Vance for 12 years, needless to say he was all grown up. We went spelunking at Endless Caverns. But basically, we just rested there. That drive to Florida is a killer!

August also saw both Cory and I ringing in our 30th birthdays! He feels "old." I'm excited to see what the next 30 years will bring our way. September came and went by so fast I barely noticed. Cory and I went to the Outer Banks where we had rented a beach house with my parents for a week. It was nice to get away, the weather was quite cooperative most of the time. I was stressing about getting back home right before Fall Qtr was due to start, so I wasn't having the best time possible. But it was good to be with them, to just hang out playing cards, to cook together... to laugh together. It was peaceful to just walk the beach combing the sand for shells. We celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary on September 14th.

Once we came back here and college didn't happen for me I began to panic a bit. I questioned what I was doing, whether or not it was the right choice to go to school, and many other things. What I didn't do right away is what I should have done, taken it to my Father. I have been reminded - sometimes with more force than others - that He sees the big picture, I only get it in fragments. I need to be more thankful for that! I am afraid if I saw the big picture I would be neurotically making plans to take control and make it happen. God is in control. And God is good - ALL the time, especially when it doesn't make sense!

Cory and I became members of our church a couple of weeks ago. Our churches small groups have started up and we are involved in one. And it just happened that one of the couples in our small group needed a babysitter part-time, three days a week. Their former sitter is expecting and resigned. If I had been in college there is NO way (read my lips - NOOOOOOO way) I could have stepped in. I told them that I could watch their boys through the end of the year, possibly longer depending on how the financial aid thing turns out. The extra money comes at *just* the right time for us! We begin tearing apart the other drop ceiling in our house tonight, and the rebuilding of a new drywall ceiling begins later this week. We are hoping to have the ceiling done, a coat closet built, new flooring, and the room painted by Thanksgiving. Keep in mind we were planning to do this while I was taking 17 credit hours this quarter. God is good - All the time!

Cory's overtime is running out, and thankfully he is guaranteed (because his job is union backed) 40 hours of pay a week, even if there isn't 40 hours of work. The money from the babysitting job will come in handy this winter when our electric bill is ridiculous (again). Although, we're hoping that we can save up and buy a wood stove as our gift for each other this Christmas... and if not I might have to make him insulate some rooms so we can get some relief from the cold.

September we celebrated being in our own home for a year, also. We've made friends in church; met some of our neighbors; completed adoption training; completed the kitchen, the mud room, the laundry room; paid off some debts; taken a real vacation; we have recently begun walking the dogs every day (even on the cold and/or rainy ones). I am thrilled, ecstatic even to say that I have lost - and maintained the loss!!!!!!!! - 31.7 pounds over the past year. I don't know how much Cory has lost, but he has lost weight and kept it off as well. This year has been very good to us. Praise God.