We have an AWESOME God!

Last night was an intense 4 hours...completely drained me (crying does that and so does first hand information) but Dena is such a champ. She kept the world posted through every bit of it and she is such a strength to Rob and others. She needs to rewrite the Army Wife Handbook. What she didn't write is that Rob went into a surgery that had a 90% mortality rate! And he is a 10% kind of person because he pulled through with almost no issues. To be presented with 'let him die peacefully' or 'have invasive surgery where he is most likely going to die' is just devestating. But I believe the power of prayer and God pulled him through and is Dena's rock. I am so grateful today....I can't even begin to express it.

Because I don't know what else to do

Please just pray like you never have before and ask God for a miracle.

Rob, Dena, Julia and Eva

My latest hobby/obession

And I think it is a good one. I am like a forever student because it has seriously been on my mind lately that I should go back to school again. But then I think about our uncertain future and where we are going to move and reality hits. It will be nearly impossible to go back and stay in one school for the length of time I need to, and really, am I ready to ditch the kids. Not really...well sort of.

But I digress, there is a new love in my life that helps me get over the need for going back to school. For the past year and a half I have been doing Bible studies. They are courses you can purchase where you do homework 5 days a week and then listen to an hour CD every week that reinforces what you learned and gets you ready for the next week. Sometimes it can be mind boggling because there are certain books of the Bible that are not easy to understand and full of history like Daniel. Or it can be a soap opera epic that you never want to end like Genesis. (How many times have you read Genesis thinking you were going to read the whole bible only to give up in the middle of Exodus?) The point is, I love these studies!

I always have at least 2 of them going at the same time and I try to make time everyday. Most of the time I am doing them in my car as I am waiting for Bridger to finish his piano lesson or Jadyn's choir practice, never wasting a moment.



If this should interest you, I would totally recommend starting with Patriarch's by Beth Moore and the only place you can purchase it is Lifeway. It is the story of Genesis chapters 12-50. It was so good I cried when it was over (Joseph died) and I will never read it the same now that I truely know God's chosen people.

November Recap

This month sure went quickly, but I am glad it's almost over. I have wrapped up all my craft show orders finally and can breath again! I was thinking about being in one more show this weekend and I am so glad I decided against it because I think I would have lost my mind at this point in the game. I am going to spend my extra time doing things around the house and building up my online stores instead.

It has been awhile since I have posted any pictures in this forum, so I am going to play catch up. I took this pic back in October and it makes me happy that we are going to be moving next year!

This city is ridiculous! Twice we have been affected by this with cars broken into in my own driveway. Keith seems to think we are going to Germany BUT the Army has made us into liars more than once...so I wouldn't believe it until we are actually packing up. And most likely, we will have to rent this house because they aren't selling well and we won't get the money we want for it. Hopefully that will all work out.

Last weekend, Jadyn's school had a winter gala that we participated in and I have a few pics to share from that.
Jadyn's class played their recorders for us.

And the kids got all dressed up.


I got Keith some cool things from the Silent Auction that night--- a photograph of the Cowboys and tickets to the George H Bush Presidential Library. Something to do when he comes home for R&R perhaps.

Yesterday was pretty relaxing- with Thanksgiving and all. I was smart and ordered our food from the Cracker Barrel. It all came in a box!

That Chocolate Pecan Pie on top is to DIE for! The only thing I added was cut up vegtables and hummus dip. It was way too much food for the 3 of us, so we will eating this for the next week. We also went to the movies in which I fell asleep for a good 20 minutes of it!! We were trying to beat the crowds and we all know that turkey eating makes you tired and we went right after we were done eating.

Also, yesterday I picked a ton of tomatoes from my garden.

Isn't it crazy that I am just now getting my bumper crop at the end of November? It was just too hot this summer for them and now that the weather is much more mild. I need to figure out what to do with them since I am not really in the mood for them now!

And lastly, this is picture I meant to put up with a previous post. I came home late to find Jadyn sleeping with the cat on the couch. Too cute.

Keith's Job

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/11/11/robertson.afghan.winter.rush.cnn?iref=videosearch

Though I don't get why Keith is not in the news clips (oh ya, he is the one actually working), his job covers what this newspiece is talking about. He gets all supplies via helo's to all the outposts. It is his guys who coordinate all the helo's, fill them up and direct them to where they need to go. This piece talks a bit about what they do for the locals and I have never heard Keith mention that part--- so that probably doesn't include him. I never get sick of seeing pictures of where he is at though.

The time of my life!

This article really hit a nerve with me.

The Simple Dollar

When I think of the happiest times of my life:
I think of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba where I lived for 6 months
I think of Buenos Aires, Argentina where I disappeared to for 11 days
I think of Las Vegas and Jackson Hole road trips
Totally carefree with no responsibilities are obligations....especially obligations. That would be why Rome, Italy and Honolulu, Hawaii didn't make this list. Too many of the above mentioned things.

Also I totally get the too much 'stuff' deal too. I am so over STUFF and it has affected my mood lately. I just want to open closets and throw every last bit of it away. That is why we are working Christmas totally different this year because I can't allow more 'stuff' to come into this house. Hope the kids aren't too disappointed. I want to be FREE! To have the time of my life!!

I love stuff like this

another video made by our soldiers.
Keith's unit is for sure at 2:33 and I recognize a few others before that.
http://www.dvidshub.net/index.php?script=video/video_show.php&id=49976

Updates

I am behind on EVERYTHING!
Housecleaning, laundry, dusting, orders, homeschool and the list goes on and on.

Yesterday was Bridger's 12th birthday and I have not even ordered his present yet. I told him to hang tight and he would get it soon and he seemed to be fine with that anwser. He did go get himself a video game with his birthday money and he was happy with that.

This last weekend I did my last craft show of the season and though I did not do as well as last year, I am happy with the results. It is a recession going on afterall. But I have many custom orders I need to fill in the next week to get everything caught up.

I have a friend coming over today so I can help her with some sewing on her orders from the craft show and she wants to learn how to knit. So today I will be cleaning like crazy and knitting! ha...I don't think that was on the To Do list!

And I was thrilled this morning to get on the scale after a month of avoiding it only to discover that I had lost another pound without trying. I was convinced that I gained everything back because of my lack of exercise and unhealthy eating. So I am down a total of 10 pounds since Keith has left. That is good news!

The best phone call

I have SO MUCH to do in the next couple of days to get ready for my biggest craft show of year this weekend. Weeding wall words like CRAZY! Had to get a bunch of things out today from my Etsy sales and of course, running behind. Right when I was about to walk out the door, the phone rings......

I didn't recognize the number so I let the answering machine pick it up. There was a bunch of squealing on the other end!!
the message said this:
"He's here! He's here!! He just called me and is at the Killeen airport. My house is a mess and there is no food in the fridge. I don't believe this!!!"

There was total excitement. No worries about the last things said of course. And curiosity got the better part of me because this person did not say who they were! So I had to call back, of course! Well it was my buddy Erika and she was talking about her husband Preston. He was due to come home soon but Erika wasn't expecting him this soon. And he never told what day exactly, so basically he surprised her and she called me on her way to the airport!

This phone call has put a smile on my face all day!!

Coupon Day

Did my weekly shopping trip and once again, I blew it out of the water!

Had to go to Home Depot to get some wood for a project. Luckily they were offering a 10% to all military families and that is about as good as it gets there. Save $1.07-- haha-- hardly even worth mentioning.

Then I had to go to walmart to get some other supplies like paint and sawtooth hangers. I thought I should go ahead and shop the sales that I could match a coupon too. They were not all that great, but I take what I get. I spent a total of $56 but paid only $42 for a saving of approx %25....hopefully it will get better in the weeks to come. And the number would be better if I had only bought groceries.

Then I went to Walgreens to finish it off. I did 2 transactions there. The first one I got some meds-- flu, cold, and night time stuff. The reason I did this transacation is because every single one of those meds were on sale and I had a coupon for everyone of them. THEN, Walgreens printed me out a $5 coupon for whatever I want to use it for AND another coupon to get Afrin for free. Saved 47% on this transaction spending only $12.47 instead of $23.47

Second transaction-- I did get the Afrin and I also got toothbrushes, but everything else was actually groceries. I saved 67%!!!!! I bought $77.12 in groceries and paid only $25.28. I used Walgreen coupons AND manufacturer coupons, they subtracted that $5 register rewards AND I used my gift card that I got for my rebates last month. That's what I am talking about!

Walgreen's makes rebates sooooo simple. All you have to do is plug your reciept number into their website and they will either send you a check or a gift card. Once you get your first gift card, you can just choose to reload it. AND they give you an extra 10% if you choose that option. You just can't beat it!

I LOVE Walgreens!

Article on Keith's unit

It sucks for them...but this is the story

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/world/asia/10outpost.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

Messing around on google again

I already know my own name so well on google, but I was curious about some other people. Mainly Rob Yllescas...but then I looked up Keith. Mind you, I don't want to see his name on the internet AT ALL, because it would likely mean, not good news. But I ran into a couple of things I thought interesting.

Keith worked his tush off for almost a year on this new humvee for the Army and he barely gets mentioned in this article. It was a pretty big deal.
http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/jul2006/a072006wm2.html

Then I thought this article was a joke and so typical. Keith's unit needed these fire helmet deals and being prior Navy, he knew he could get them from the Navy. Keith's sole job is to track down all the stuff these soldiers would ever need and find a way to get it. Well it is not as easy as calling the Navy up and asking to buy some from them, so Keith went through his brother who is a Chief in the navy. If memory serves me correctly, his brother did all the work of tracking these fire hoods down and even sent them to keith with his own money!!! And look who gets the credit. It would have been a much better story had the journalist written it from the viewpoint of twin brothers helping each other out even though one is Navy and one is Army-- one was in Hawaii and one was in Iraq. Such an ameteur.
http://www.defendamerica.mil/profiles/jan2006/pr012606ms1.html

Stupid Cats!!!!!!!!!!

I really do hate them now. I am sick of all the crap they bring home and I do not view it as gifts of love as a lot of people say, but annoying things that add to my To Do list.

Last night I opened the door to let Pepsi in and she apparently had a mouse with her. A real tiny one. when it came in the door with Pepsi, I let out a blood curdling scream and had both kids running to me. Mind you, I used to keep mice as pets when I was younger. But I have no interest in them anymore!

I saw the general direction that the mouse ran in, so the kids and I started rearranging furniture and boxes and whatever we could get our hands on so we could scare the mouse right out the back door again without it running through our house. Of course that thing with the brain the size of a grain of rice found our hole and ran into the living room. Bridger tried to engage it and the mouse ran completely all over him. Up his shirt, down his shirt, over his shoulder and down his backside. I was screaming the whole time I was watching this mouse kick his arse.

Finally Jadyn got a bowl, gave it to bridger and he caught it within seconds. Grabbed it by the tail and threw it out the backdoor. I have been walking around my house with my eyes down because I am still freaked out. So disgusting!!!!!!!!!!! After Bridger released it, he layed on the couch and laughed for 5 minutes straight. He said I should have been on America's Funniest Home Video's....I was thinking the same thing about him!

It's what I expected.....

I never had any doubt who would win this election-- what was interesting to me is how much the kids got into it. For the past several weeks I have been listening to the carpool kids debate in my car who should win and why. Some of their comments were very amusing and some of them more intellent then what you see on CNN.

I took Bridger with me to the voting booth yesterday and showed him my form. This polling place did not have the computers, but a paper ballot where you fill in the bubbles. Both kids also saw my notes and I told them all the reasons why I was voting for a certain candidate and how the views match up with mine. They get how important this all is.

Last night, I pulled the number where I told Jadyn I had to lay down to sleep at 8pm and told her to wake me up at 9pm. She did, but I couldn't get up!!! I never do so I don't know what I was thinking. I don't remember what time I did get up, but she was asleep on the couch with a notebook in her lap and the TV on to CNN (what was I thinking by letting her watch that channel!?!?). But she was tracking the electoral votes for half the night and had it all written down in her notebook. This morning she was almost impossible to wake up! She told me that she woke up again and watched the speeches and the world celebrating. I am pretty proud that she took such an invested interested in what is going on in the world today. And she is happy that she can vote in 2 elections away.

So after voting yesterday, I got all my coupons together and hit all my stores to get all the lastest deals. I killed it!!! Walked away like a bandit! I hit Target, Walgreens, Family Dollar and Dollar General. Probably why I was so tired last night!

I am voting

and bringing Bridger along with me. I have the address where I need to show up and I am packing my camping chair just in case- though I think it is only the swing states that need to worry about long lines, you must always be prepared! I have studied the candidates and their views on all issues important to me and I have made my decision. My votes counts!!!! Go VOTE!!!

If you're bored

you can watch this PBS Frontline deal online and it actually follows some soldiers in Keith's brigade. Helps you see and feel what they go through. In the next year or more there will be more media coming out because it seems they are there all the time. Don't know if that is a good thing or not.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/warbriefing/

I am clean!

Tonight I went out with several girlfriends and I must say it was completely refreshing and cleansing. Ali came with me and we laughed until my stomach hurt. I hope she found it just as uplifting as I did. A few minutes of peace...its all anyone needs to get through difficult times.