Very Trying Times

Here is a picture of Landon's mom, Debbie. I wish I knew when it was taken; my guess is late 70's/early 80's.


Many of you may not know that Debbie has MS (Multiple Sclerosis). MS is a terrible disease that effects each patient in different ways, but mostly it attacks the muscles. Landon's mom has been suffering with this for almost 25 years, and it has taken over nearly every part of her body. She is doing very poorly right now and is not expected to make it too much longer. I don't have the energy to go into all of it right now, but Landon and I went to see her today and she didn't know who we were. We stayed for about half an hour, and towards the end I think she finally kind of knew who he was at least. Her speech is very limited now and when she does try to talk it is very hard to understand her, and she doesn't sound at all like herself. It was really, really difficult to see her this way, especially for Landon. If anyone happens to think of us, please pray for our family as we go through this hard time. There are probably going to be some very difficult decisions coming soon, and we desperately need God's wisdom and guidance.

What's Going on with Me Lately?

The last couple of weeks have been pretty busy at our household. Here's a little of what's been happening around here the last several days; some are cool, some are serious, and some are just plain silly.

Landon got a bit of a raise at work. WooHoo!

Our dog sleeps in our room every night now, but NOT on the bed! No 50-some-odd pounds of dog invading on the personal space. It works out quite nicely actually. She has a little bed of her own and sleeps all night in there with us. I get up and take her out when Landon leaves to go to work, then sleep for a little bit longer if I don't feel like staying awake yet. It makes for a happier (read: well behaved) dog throughout the day in my opinion.

Our Sunday school class at church has now moved to evenings (that was about 6 weeks ago), and we love it! We get to sleep in on Sunday mornings and feel so much more awake at 4 when we go to class, then to service at 5:30. Nearly everyone from our morning class also switched to evenings and our class has at least doubled in size. It's been really cool to continue to get to know friends and meet new ones too.

Landon and I have started a small group in our home on Tuesday nights. Another couple that lives super close to us are helping us lead it, and so far we have 7 people in our group. Our first meeting (I don't know what else to call it) was last night and it was not nearly as nerve wracking as I was anticipating it to be. I am naturally a more reserved and shy person when first meeting new people, and I was so glad that it was very relaxed instead. Last night was a time of getting to kind of know each other and learn about our backgrounds, etc. It was much better than the "meet and greet" that was at the church on Friday night where people came to try to find a group that would fit their needs. I think God is going to do something really cool with this new thing in our lives. I don't know what yet, but I'm watching and waiting!

Landon's grandfather on his mother's side passed away on Thursday and the funeral was yesterday. I don't want to say it was weird, because it was a very nice service, but I'm not sure what other word can describe it; neither of us knew him very well at all, but we wanted to show support to the family by coming. Landon never really spent much time around those grandparents growing up, except for during major holidays when lots of other people would be around too. I had only met his grandfather a handful of times, and nearly each time it was like meeting for the first time again because we never got to know each other. (on a side note, he never could hear me when I would talk...I'm pretty quiet)

I finally cleaned up my extra room where I keep all my books and stuff like that. Many papers came in contact with my marvelous shredder, and I really felt like I had accomplished something by making that room more presentable. I also organized my bookshelves a little and found about 5 books that I had forgotten I was reading at one time. Among them were Captivating by Stasi Eldredge and Hinds' Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard, both products of my Family Christian days; everyone was raving about them so I bought them and never finished reading them. I dug them out and put them in my room where I would be able to see them; unfortunately I have several more books in there that I haven't finished reading either. I will get to them eventually.

In cleaning up said room above, we now have better access to our ARCADE that Landon and his brother built about a year and a half ago. One of my favorite games to play is simply titled Yoshi, and it's from the original NES.

I had not seen my family for like a month, so I spent the day and night of Saturday with them. My Christmas present from Lollie finally came in this week from Amazon, so she and I watched one of the movies she got me: Wish Upon a Star. It's a cheesy little movie starring Katherine Heigel circa 1996, but I love it. It used to come on the Disney Channel allll the time when I was a teenager.

Sunday was pretty cool. So I had spent the night at my parents' and I went to church with them that morning. I am SO not used to early morning Sundays anymore! But it was really good, and I'm glad I went with them. Then Landon came and met us for lunch at Fazoli's, which was also good. We went home and he helped me make a 7 Layer Dip for our church class' Superbowl party thing. He was very sweet and did all the chopping-of which there was a lot: a whole green bell pepper, 2 tomatoes and some green onions. It was worth it-the dip was very yummy! I'll be making it again, but probably cutting the recipe in half since it was such a huge amount. Our party thing was really fun, although I didn't watch a ton of the game(mostly the end of the last quarter). I was rooting for the Cardinals, however, and was disappointed that they didn't win. Please don't hate me, Steelers fans! I, like many others, was rooting for the underdog to make it!

I got Doogie Howser season 1(the first disc) from Netflix this week, and I still think Neil Patrick Harris is adorable. I remember watching this show as reruns when I was a young teen, but I don't remember all the talk about sex! Naive little me just didn't get it, I guess. It's kinda funny because it was made in the 80's, but it's still a good show in my opinion.

Landon and I watch at least one episode of Friends before we go to bed every night, and we're on season 2 right now. Last night it was "The One Where Eddie Won't Go", probably one of the funniest ones ever. It's always funny when Chandler freaks out about anything!

Well, I guess that's about all that's going on in my little korner right now. :)

My Husband Thinks He is So Funny (MHTHISF)

I thought this would be a funny topic to bring up every now and then. It shall henceforth be known as MHTHISF to shorten the subject line! By the way, others will only get to hear Landon's "funnies" if I thought they were funny too (i.e. they didn't project me into fits of tears).

So Saturday Landon had to go to work and make it so that faxes will come to their new shop instead of (or maybe as well as, like also) the old building. I decided to go with him since we didn't know how long it would take and I didn't want to not see him all day. Well, I forgot to brush my teeth before we left and didn't really realize it until we were about half way there. You know, you're saying something and hope the other person doesn't suddenly smell your breath.

Me: Ew, I should have brushed my teeth before we left the house.
Landon: And your hair.

Apparently he wasn't concerned about my breath.

Then yesterday we got up semi-late (yay for going to church in the evening!), so I'm going to make us some lunch.

Me: I think I'm getting my period. I feel gross.
Landon (faking hysteria): Oh no! Can you still make Manwhich?!
Me: Um, yeah. My period doesn't keep me from cooking.

And that is the man I live with. More installments to come. :)

Four Christmases

Not the movie, which I heard was really good-no, these are my four Christmases. Maybe someone will find them interesting. I like filling my blog, and I told myself that I would write about all the festivities.

Christmas #1: my Dad's side of the family in Memphis
We decided December 21st would be the day to go to Memphis since it didn't work out for my grandparents, aunt and 2 cousins to come to my parents' house on Christmas day. I think Landon and I are the farthest away, so we needed to leave pretty early to make it for lunch (plus I was bringing a casserole that needed to be cooked once we arrived). Ok, sounds good until we bring home Taco Bell the night before and it makes Landon miserably sick. I mean, so miserably sick that we probably won't eat there again this side of 6 months or more. I was fine, but I'm ok with that plan since the one closest to us is normally pretty crappy, but that's beside the point.

So he is up half the night, but I am determined that we will leave the house on time. It ends up that I talk to my mom a couple of times and everyone says to tell Landon that it's ok-he needs to stay home. Now I am normally not one who ever drives long distances alone, but we have a GPS now (I must add that we have named him Rafiki-even though the "voice" is female-because "he know the way". If you think I'm weird, just remember the Lion King and it will all make sense!), so I was feeling very confident that I could get me and Giselle to Memphis.

Mini side note to the story: Giselle came with me because we didn't want to leave her in her crate for the 7+ hours she would have been confined otherwise. We planned on taking her anyway, before Landon was sick, so I went ahead and packed her stuff into the car so she wouldn't be in his way all day.

Anyway, I ended up leaving the house about 30 minutes later that the original planned time, but still got to Memphis before lunch was scheduled. It was delayed a little, of course, since my dish wasn't all the way cooked yet when I got there. I ended up meeting Phil before I'd gotten very far on the road so that Laura could ride with me on the trip up there. It worked out very nicely.

Dinner was pretty uneventful, then when everything was all cleaned up and everything we just kind of....sat. With this side of the family, we have started the tradition of swapping names to do gifts, so that everyone doesn't buy for everyone like we had been doing in the past. This was our 3rd year doing it this way, so while there aren't as many gifts to pass out, everyone is still excited to get it going...at least I thought we were! We just ended up sitting and all that for at least an hour or more after dinner was over and done with. Finally it came to the point where my cousin was going to have to leave so she could take care of some stuff, so I declared it was time for gifts. I thought for sure when she started hinting that she needed to go that someone else would speak up, but I surprised myself and took the liberty. (Seriously, I'm not usually one of those who can get people to "listen up"!)

So gifts are handed out and we take turns opening up. All that buildup and most everyone got the same thing: cash. There were a few other gifts, but at least cash lets you buy what you want. After the gift giving, Mama, Tonya, Phil and I got to go see some of our cousins that live nearby that I haven't seen in years. I had a horrible headache, but it was really cool to get to hang out with them and try to catch up when most of us couldn't remember the last time we saw each other!

I had not planned on spending the night in Memphis (meaning I did not bring anything for a sleepover), but with Landon not feeling much better yet and with it being very dark by the time the gifts were opened, Giselle and I were welcomed to my aunt's house to spend the night! (My grandmother's house was full with my parents and brother staying there.) It was very late by the time I got to my aunt's after going to see cousins and getting my car so I could drive the short distance to her house. I got there just in time to say goodnight to her, and for Giselle to chase her 2 year old dachshund Gracie around the coffee table a few times. (I couldn't totally blame her-Giselle had to stay on her leash the whole time before because I didn't want her to jump up on my 86 year old grandmother. Even though she was really good on her leash, she just had lots of unused energy.) So I went to bed without brushing my teeth, and slept in my clothes. My poor aunt had to work super early the next morning, but she is so sweet and left some $ for me and Laura to get some breakfast since she didn't have anything for us to eat.

To end this exceptionally long version of Christmas #1, Laura ended up riding almost all the way back with me and when I got home Landon was feeling a little better. He didn't feel like eating real food yet, but he was past that point of only wanting to veg out on the couch.

Christmas #2: Landon's family in McMinville
This one was the very next day, the 22nd, but at least it was in the evening so Landon could spend the whole day feeling better. I got home in just enough time to allow me to wrap every gift we were taking with us, and then get myself ready to go. Landon has 2 older brothers-the oldest one (who's town we went to) has 2 daughters, and the middle one has 2 daughters and 2 sons. Add to that Landon's grandfather (plus he brought his "girlfriend"-they are both in their 80's!), aunt and her 2 sons, plus Landon's dad plus the 2 of us-and there were nearly 20 people at this gathering!

Way back right at Thanksgiving, whoever set this up said it was going to be at their house. So Landon and I get to their house a little early...and all is dark, nobody home. We get back in the car and call Landon's dad and he's like "No-it's at the church!". Great, the location was changed and nobody thought to tell us? So it takes a bit of doing to find the church, but we get there expecting to be holding everyone up from eating, but everything is just finishing up getting ready, so we're good. Although we did give several people a hard time for not telling us that the location had moved.

Anyway, everyone finally gets there and it's time to eat. Landon and I chose the kiddy table because it looked like fun (and there were just enough seats once every person sat down-so a couple of "grown-ups" were going to have to sit there anyway), and he ate just a little bit of food while making jokes about how sick he was.

Because there are so many kids on this side of the family, there were lots of gifts to give out! Once again I took the liberty of "announcing" that it was present time-in this instance it was 9pm by that time, and we had almost an hour drive to get back home after gifts. (Dude, I was so surprised that I got everyone to listen like that 2 days in a row!) I became "Santa" and handed out the presents, then it became a frenzy of opening and squeeeling and "thank yous" for all the kids. Since there are so many kids, everyone just buys for them; although Landon's aunt gave us a really pretty pitcher this year. Now onto...

Christmas #3: my family in Hermitage
Well, I think of the 4 of them, this Christmas is the one that came off the most smoothly. Everyone was on time, nobody was sick, I didn't have to declare that it was present time (Laura almost always takes care of that here-and people listen!), Giselle got to come and be off her leash and Christmas tv specials were involved.

We continued our tradition from last year of going to a movie on Christmas day before eating or doing gifts. This year we went to see Marley & Me, and it was SOOOO good! I will just leave it at that so I don't accidentally give any spoilers. I will definitely buy this when it comes to dvd.

Ok, I take back a little when I said nobody got sick; Laura and I both had headaches when the movie was over. But we both took something and felt better before it was time to eat later, so all was well!

This year we decided to do things differently as far as what kind of food to have. By this time everyone is pretty tired of all the traditional food offerings for the season, so we did finger foods instead and I think we should do it like this every year! We had a lot of stuff from cheese sticks to hot wings to smokey links. Definitely the way to go. After food we did presents, and this side of the family gives and gets a lot of dvds! I love it, because there's always something that everyone wants but can't always get themselves, plus we borrow each others' stuff a lot so it works out well! And I got my traditional Audrey Hepburn calendar. I've gotten one every year from my parents since at least 2004, so this was #5.

After the mayhem of gift wrapping was cleaned up-some of it being what Giselle had previously stolen and shredded-we watched some Looney Tunes that Phil and Tonya had given me. After several way funny Tweety and Sylvester moments, Landon and I had to pack up and head home. It was a really good and relaxed day.

And now...

Christmas #4: my mom's side of the family in Humboldt
My grandmother has claimed New Year's Day to be Christmas since I was about 14 I think-although it could be earlier than that, I would have to ask someone. Anyway, she has 5 children and multiple grandchildren and great-grandchildren, so this day seemed to be the best one to pick for everyone (or as many as possible) to be able to make it to celebrate Christmas.

There's not a whole lot to say about this one since it usually disbands pretty quickly once food and gifts (i.e. cash-everyone makes the joke, not just me!) are done. It's good to see everyone that I don't get to see a whole lot, especially to see how the babies have grown-and to see some of the babies I hadn't even gotten to see before! We came, we ate (well, I only ate a little because the food didn't look too appealing to me), we visitied, we gave, we got and we went. It was neat this year because pretty much everyone came-except for one cousin. That almost never happens, so we were packed in the little room where we ate. But it was good, and pretty much everyone left with candy and money. (yay! Grandma "bought" me Vera Bradley this year and last year!)

The weird thing about this get together was that almost 10 people got sick a day or so afterwards...I've heard the flu/stomach bug was going around, but I'm just glad that Landon and I didn't eat much of the food that was there. Hopefully everyone is doing better by now.

Well, I have covered every Christmas except for what Landon and I did with each other. I didn't give it a separate number because I was adding up the events where we had to drive somewhere to get to them. In my previous post, I said how Landon got a PS3; that was for Christmas and his birthday that's on Dec. 27th. He also got a few games to go along with it, and an extra controller and remote, so he was set by the time the 25th came around. I got myself a few things here and there, but we also got each other a card and a small surprise item. He got me an iTunes giftcard, and I got him a Life is Good shirt. We ended up giving each other those things on Christmas eve, but kind of forgot the cards until the day after Christmas.

On Christmas day, we slept until about 9-ish and I made us scrambled eggs and cinnamon rolls for breakfast, which we ate while watching A Charlie Brown Christmas, and Giselle bugged us while we were trying to eat. (she likes eggs)

Well, I heavily applaud anyone who read even halfway through this um...solilioquy (that is so a real word! Remember how Andy Griffith told Opie about Romeo and Juliet? He said that people gave soliloquys "a whole lot back then". Definition 2 : a dramatic monologue that represents a series of unspoken reflections. Ok, so maybe it doesn't exactly mean what I just wrote, but I think it can work here.). I promise my next post won't be so atrociously (another real word-remember Anne of Green Gables?) long. And I will try to remember for Christmas 2009 to blog about each event separately.

A belated Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to you (all 2 of you that read!) all!

Btw, I will have you two know that it took me more than an hour to type this up and it's 1:15 pm my time. Oooh, I had to do an edit and say it took almost 2 hours. Am I dedicated to telling a story or what?!

It's Christmas Time

So the Christmas season has been pretty crazy this year, right? Last year at this time we were just starting to get settled into our new home, and everything was very last minute and all that. I thought surely this year would be much more calm and relaxed since we are fully settled and I tried harder to get my lists and things in order a few weeks ahead of when I would begin shopping, etc. But somehow everything feels nearly as rushed and hectic as it did last year, and I didn't even decorate my house this year!

Ok, about that...I am blaming the no decorations on my 7 month old puppy. It might have been fine, but she still sometimes gets a hold of things she shouldn't and I didn't want to spend a month straight watching her every single move to make sure she didn't eat my favorite Christmas ornament. We kept saying we would go upstairs and get our stockings out of storage and at least put them and a couple of favorite Christmas items up, but it never happened. So I am bummed that my house doesn't look the least bit festive...except for a couple of Starbucks coffee cup ornaments that I bought last week and set on my mantle...but I don't suppose those really count (although I have wanted a set of them every year when I see them in the stores).

My mom and I continued our tradition of getting together and doing Christmas baking, for the 3rd year in a row now. I have wondered since then, what traditions have Landon and I made in our own family? (Plus our group at church has talked about this...and at the time I couldn't really think of anything.) We usually go to the Opryland Hotel every year when it's decorated all Christmas-y. We normally have all our decorations up at home and I try to find us a new "couple" type of ornament, although I couldn't find one I liked this year. (Boo.) We watch the Christmas specials and movies that are on tv every year, though I prefer my dvd copies since they are uncut. We take a picture every December for our Christmas cards that I send out, and I have made a little picture book for only those pictures of us every year. We usually go to the Christmas Eve service at our church each year.

This one sounds silly, but apparently one of our traditions has become getting presents early and not wrapping anything. Landon's birthday is 2 days after Christmas, so a lot of times he gets something bigger to count for both events. If what he wants is also something I want (and is expensive enough, i.e. the Wii...or last year it was this house! just kidding...although we didn't really do any other gifts last year since we bought the house in mid-November), then that's what we do. We usually get each other something small that is a surprise, and also a card on Christmas day, but we haven't done the traditional all gifts are a surprise thing since our first couple of Christmases.

So this year Landon got a PS3, and he's had it for probably a month or so. (Just in case they sold out early, lol!) Then he told me to just get some stuff that I wanted, so I ordered a few things online or bought them for myself when I was out shopping for other stuff. Then I come home and show him what he got me!

I decided to order most all of the gifts we're giving online. I must say that is the way to go, so long as you give yourself plenty of time to receive them. I have been so busy doing other tasks and shopping locally that I haven't wrapped a single present yet, although I am proud to say that I am FINISHED (yay!) shopping except for one last gift (and I have no idea what to get this person).

I've been trying to slow down and enjoy the simple pleasures of this season, but I must confess that I'm doing a pretty pitiful job of it. There are many things that I still love about this time of year, just as much as I loved it when I was a kid; yet I have allowed too many things to distract me, and I have yet to sit down and read the Christmas story myself this year...or be very still long enough to listen to my Savior speak to my heart. It's so easy to get caught up in what your giving, and even as a "grown up", what you are getting! I hope to take this coming week of Christmas to really slow down and enjoy all that I have been blessed with, and especially to enjoy being with my loved ones. I know this sounds cliche and all that, but I don't care. I wouldn't even be here if God had not sent his son to be a baby for me. By the way, if you have never heard the song "Born to Die" by Bebo Norman, now is the perfect time to go get it off iTunes or somewhere and listen to the words. I keep it on my iPod all year long because it's such an awesome song of God's greatness and His love for me.

Now off I go to quietly try to enjoy what is left of this Christmas season. I still have many things left to do, but I think my heart will be more joyful, and hopefully more peaceful and still.