Truly Blessed

left to right back row: Shane, Eric, Meaghan, Aaron, Morgan, Zach, and Eli
left to right front row: Jackie, Miles, Jake, Miranda, and me :)
Bonfire up at the lake over Christmas break




Miranda, Eli, and I at a bonfire at the lake

Me and Miranda at the reservoir cliff jumping

Timmy and I excited to see each other again :)

Zach and Jordyn (Uncle "yach" is her favorite)camping at Branham


Erika and I the before we went cosmic bowling

Eli and I in the hotel room after the Marine Corp Ball

My family and mom's two crazy sisters who visited for mom's birthday

So often I get caught up in the "bad" days that I have that I forget about how blessed I am. I have an amazing family, my mom and dad have been happily married for 23 years, I get along with my brother and sister, and I live in a christian home. My parents are supportive and gave me morals and values.

I have great friends who have been there when I truly needed them, whether it was because I was short on cash, needed a place to sleep, or just needed someone to talk to. Friends who have gotten me through stressful classes, late nights, and early mornings.

I have a truly great boyfriend who not only treats me with respect, but makes me feel special, and takes great care of me, in the months that I was driving to and from school each day he made sure that I always had a meal to eat at night and called to make sure I made it back home safe each night.

And that is only a list of the amazing people in my life, I'm so blessed in so many ways. Thank you Lord for everything, and help me not to take them for granted.

My goal

As a college freshman I am sad to admit that I have fallen into the pit of eating unhealthy, not getting enough sleep, and not exercising nearly enough (walking around campus is definitely not enough). So I have decided to make it my goal for the rest of the semester, and on into summer (although in different ways) to start eating healthier, and exercising more, I'll try to get more sleep, although I don't want to try to do everything at once and fail in all areas. I'm going to start by improving my eating habits:

1. Carry a water bottle at all times to make sure I drink more water.
2. Drink water with my meals rather than pop or juice or milke (I'm allergic to the protein in milk).
3. I'm buying already made salad and fresh deli meat to keep in my fridge at school.
4. I'm going to pop in a piece of sugar free gum when I feel the need to snack.
5. I'm going to stop eating when I'm full instead of overeating and feeling stuffed.
6. I'm going to eat more fruits and vegetables.

Secondly I'm going to get back in shape by:

1. Swimming laps 3 times a week at the hper.
2. Run at least twice a week either on the walking trail or at the hper.
3. I'm going to stretch each morning as soon as I wake up, and get moving right away to jump start my metabolism and keeping it high throughout the day.
4. I'm going to do 15 minutes of pilates at least 2 times a week.
5. Take a long walk at least 2 times a week.

...also by doing these things, I will feel better during the day and sleep better at night which will help with the sleeping habit.

I'm tired of feeling exhausted, and not liking the way I look, so I have decided to do something about it!

New members of the family???

Well, as you may or may not know, my family is in the process of adopting. We are looking at adopting a child between the age of 2 and 10 and considering adopting siblings. Mom and Dad have completed 6 weeks of foster care classes, which initially should speed up the adoption process. Right now we are in the middle of doing the home study, which consists of two employees from the agency coming to look at our home, and talk to us as a family and to each family member individually. We have completed the water safety test, and are in the process of the home safety test, which basically means that we have to have a fire escape plan drawn, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in all the required places, the fire place fenced off, and all items of potential danger locked in a safe place (guns, amo, knifes, lighters, cleaning supplies, etc.) We also have completed a series of questionnaires that we have to answer as a family and as individuals, about how we feel about the situation and how we would react in different scenarios, we also had to go through fingerprinting and background checks (Katie was exempt because she is a minor). It is all a huge, and time consuming process, but Mom and Dad should be licensed within the next 2 months hopefully, at which point we will be waiting for a child/children to possibly join our family :)