I Know For a Fact The Earth is Round...

...because as much as you might have thought so, I have not fallen off of it!

Wow, BLENDS, first I have to apologize for my lack of posts in the last few weeks.  Things have been, shall we say, kind of nutty in this cowgirl's household.

I am going to use this post as a quick recap of what's going on in our crazy, but very BLESSED lives.

*School was over May 28th and I have already been enjoying my summer.  I've spent the last four days in Amarillo with my mom, taking care of her bestie, Donna, who just had shoulder surgery.  We had some family and friends over last night so Dad could grill for them and he didn't disappoint.  I love it when they are here!

*McH's new business endeavor is going really well.  In fact, it's doing better than we could ever have imagined...thank you, Lord...and he is looking at hiring someone to help him out.  He is spraying fields all the time and as soon as I start to complain about not seeing him, I remind myself that this is an answered prayer and God has been faithful to us...beyond our wildest dreams.



*We have been overwhelmed with blessings this summer in the form of answered prayer.  I think I mentioned a while back about possibly selling our house.  Well, it kind of fell through then, so I was okay with knowing we had given the decision over to God and continued to pray for an opportunity to sell in the future.  The opportunity came sooner than we were expecting.  Once again, our house was not listed or officially even on the market, but a couple from a little town South of us needed to move closer to the hospital and long story short, the contract has been signed by both parties, and we close on August 3rd.  Whoa.  That's still very surreal to me.  Part of me is very sad to be moving...okay a BIG part of me.  But again I am reminded that God has given us this opportunity (albeit in a way I wasn't really expecting, and in a way we will have to sacrifice quite a bit as far as our house goes), and so I choose to be abundantly grateful for it.  HE IS SO GOOD!!!  I'll post more about the house stuff later.

 *I have accepted a position as the junior English teacher, and will be teaching all juniors and one class of Dual-Credit seniors this coming year.  It's going to be a big year of changes for me, but I'm looking forward to the new challenges that come with this next school year.







*This weekend I was in Stanton for Women's Emmaus Walk #40.  What an honor to serve these women as a team member again this year.  I was just overwhelmed with God's grace and mercy as I saw the hearts of some of these women soften and the walls come crumbling down.  The Holy Spirit was powerfully present this weekend and it was an awesome sight to see!







* Did y'all notice the ticker at the top?  I can hardly believe it, but in EIGHTEEN DAYS I am leaving for my trip to Peru.  I've been saying I don't think I will really believe it is going to happen until I'm on the plane and headed to South America.  I am SO excited I can hardly stand it, but I also know there is a lot to do before I can leave!  I've been taking a Spanish class, which has now ended.  So, I'll be continuing to brush up on it on my own and getting my things together slowly.

*We have finally started our road to in-vitro and we couldn't be more excited.  Things are going to be really busy and crazy the next couple of months, but we are ready for whatever and wherever God brings us in this journey.  I don't really feel a peace about sharing all the details about our in-vitro yet, at least not with the whole world (because you KNOW the whole world reads this blog...lol), but as I feel led, I will share more as far as specific dates and things.  We would ask for your prayers as our friends and family.

I Loved This Bum Deal

 I ended up at the walk-in clinic yesterday afternoon because my doctor was booked until Friday.  Thank goodness I did because last night I finally got a fairly good night's rest. 

Turns out I have some sort of respiratory infection that's draining into my lungs.  He ordered a steroid/antibiotic shot which the nurse gave me before I left, and then I picked up a scrip for antibiotic and cough medicine.  I'm so glad I ended up going because that cough medicine was the BEST!!!

Thanks for all of your well-wishes.  I think I'm finally on the mend and looking forward to an awesome trip to Austin this weekend!  YAY for girl-time! 

Sick of being Sick

You would think I had forgotten how to blog, wouldn't you?  Not so much.  I've just been really under the weather lately.

Last Monday morning around 2:30, I woke up with a terrible stomach ache.  Turns out it lasted for a week and was some sort of bug.  I've been told it sounded more like e-coli poisoning by several people, and I guess it could have been because I did have spinach the night before I got sick. 

Whatever it was, I know one thing it wasn't, and that's fun.  Ugh.  There's nothing worse than vomiting.  I know that's probably TMI for some of you, but man, that's the worst way to be sick, don't you think?  And on top of that, I developed some terrible fever blisters all over my lip and below it.

About the 3rd day into the bug, my throat started hurting and I developed this awful cough that hasn't subsided yet.  I think I might have to visit the doctor before my little trip to Austin this weekend. 

I've spent the last 3 nights in the guest bedroom because I'm hacking up a lung all night long and I don't want to keep McH up.  It's been all I could do to stay awake in my classroom each day. 

I'm hoping I've paid my dues, and I won't be sick for a while after this.

I promise a "healthier" post soon. 

Show Us Your Life: Your Kids' (or Future Kids') Names

I LOVED this edition of Show Us Your Life, over at Kelly's Korner.  What little girl doesn't dream about what names she will use when she has her kids?  I know I have.  Those names have also changed a lot over the years, but here are the two we have settled on (more than likely) depending on gender and/or number.

IF WE EVER HAVE A SON, HIS NAME WILL BE:

TRUETT ZELDON

Truett is the name of an uncle of my father-in-law's who died as a young child.  There isn't really any sentimental reason we chose it, except that when we both heard the name in a family story, we agreed we liked it.  I like that it is different, slightly Cowboy-rugged sounding, and that we can call him Tru as a nickname, which I think is super cute!  

Zeldon is a LONG-TIME family name on McHotterson's side.  McH is Richard Zeldon Jenkins, his father is Roland Zeldon Jenkins, Jr., his grandfather is Roland Zeldon Jenkins, Sr.  So, our son will be the fourth generation of Zeldon's in the family.  It is a strange name, I must say, but how can I break that kind of tradition, and it will definitely always be unique, which I love!  

IF WE EVER HAVE A DAUGHTER, WE WILL NAME HER:

REESE KATHLEEN

 I have to say that our first name changes quite often as we hear something new that we like, but I have been stuck on REESE for about 2 years now.  I just love it; I think it is girly and classic, and has a sophisticated sound to it, as well.  

Kathleen is another family name.  My middle name is Kathleen, my mother's middle name is Kathleen, and her grandmother's middle name was Kathleen.  At one time, I considered not using it, but I just couldn't imagine not using it if we have a girl some day.  

And, not that I am a believer in hunches, or mysticism, or anything of that nature, but I have to tell you I have always felt like we were going to have a daughter.  I don't know why, and the odds are the same we will have a boy as we will have a girl.  I've just really had a strong urging in that direction whether it be we have one naturally or end up adopting.  Oh, and I don't have a preference, either.  After four years of infertility, I will take whatever God chooses to bless us with.  I honestly have no preference whatsoever!

You should play along!  This SUYL was really fun!  

P.S.  Other names that are high on my list for girls are:  Caroline and Avery (I just like Caroline and Avery is a family name that has actually been used for the men in my dad's family for a few generations).  I've also considered Catherine Marie (both middle names of our kids' only aunts). 

No Rest for the Weary

 Spring semester as a teacher is always extremely busy.  Because I am the coordinator for Academic UIL and GT (gifted and talented) on our high school campus, this means even more busyness because Spring is the peak of both of these groups.

Our Academic UIL kids had their district meet March 29 and 31st.  Our program is really growing and we have made some changes that we are really hoping will benefit our students and make Academic UIL more of a priority at the high school level.  I have a great principal who is all about what's best for the students, and he has given us a period in the morning for UIL coaches to practice with their teams.

This year we have FOUR Regional qualifiers, which is so exciting!  Last year we only had one, and that was by default; she was first alternate and someone dropped out of regionals, so she was able to attend. 

I am just so proud to be a part of this group and to see the strides they are making.  All of the work and busyness and stress on my part, was completely worth seeing the looks on those kids' faces and to hear the excitement in their voices when they saw how well they were doing at the meet. 

So, we will take four qualifiers to the regional meet in Odessa next weekend!

I just took a group of Gifted & Talented, as well as the Anatomy & Physiology seniors, to Dallas for Bodies: The Exhibition.  I had seen it in Kansas City a few summers ago, so I knew they would enjoy it and it didn't disappoint.  It wasn't as extensive as the show I saw, but it was still so interesting and the A&P kids really liked seeing the "real deal" version of what they had been studying in their textbook.

Needless to say, between school, Emmaus, starting a new business, church, personal/family life I have been one very busy, and very stressed girl!

And this summer it won't be much different.

Here's a breakdown of my summer (SO FAR):

-May 28: high school graduation

-June 3-6: working Women's Walk #40 in Stanton, TX

-mid-June possibly a trip to Uvalde/San Antonio to see family

-June 26: WICKED in Dallas!  Richard got us tickets for my birthday!  I'm SOOOO excited, I can hardly stand it!   

-June 30: leave Amarillo for LIMA, PERU with mom and SIL

 

-July 13: Return from Peru

-Post July 13th...hopefully starting the road to IVF

And somewhere in there, I will have to move all of my things out of my classroom because I've taken a new position at school.  I am moving from sophomore to junior English and will be teaching all of the juniors and one senior Dual Credit English class (which I'm SOOOO excited about).  So, I will also be spending a vast majority of the latter part of my summer, figuring out how to teach these new subjects effectively.  I am replacing VERY BIG SHOES, people!  VERY BIG...and I'm nervous but also really excited for the change.  More about that in another post.

I'm exhausted just THINKING about it all.  But, I'm ready for the summer and all it brings with it!  Hopefully, I can fit some laying out in there somewhere...I have to be the whitest person on the planet!! 

Just a Teaser

Hello there, Blends!  Wow, where has the time gone?  Has it really been 9 days since I last posted?  Unreal.  I've been in a blogging funk, but also so busy you wouldn't believe it.  As UIL and GT coordinator at school, the Spring semester keeps me crazy busy but also away from my classroom quite a bit.  Last week I was here 2 of the 5 days.  See what I mean?

Anyway, I don't really have time right now to catch you up (notice a trend), but I promise to do so with some pictures, too!

In 10 minutes, I'm leaving school early, and heading home to pack for a much anticipated trip to Dallas. 

All of my dad's siblings will be represented (he's one of 9), and my parents, and brother/SIL will also be there.

Good times are headed our way and what better way to spend my 31st birthday than with my family (all 647 of them)!

So, here's to a camera full of pictures and an update in a couple of days!

Happy weekend!

Snapshot Roulette

I've had a hard time finding something to post about the last two weeks.  I'm just feeling uninspired, probably partly due to my chronic state of fatigue lately.

I was determined to post today so I tried to think of a sort of game I could play.  This is what I came up with:  Snapshot Roulette.  I know I've seen similar things like this on blogs before, so I won't take any credit for being completely brilliant! 

Here's how it works:  Go into your picture program and, while closing your eyes, randomly move your mouse up and down and all around.  When you stop (I did so after every five moves of my mouse) use whichever picture you land on, in your post.  Do this five times so you end up with 5 pictures.  Then, write a little caption for or description of the photo if you want to.

Here goes:

#1: July 12, 2008

Here are four very happy girls, (Corrie, me, Alicia, my SIL, Amy).  We were in Austin on a girls' trip that was a surprise for Alicia and me from Amy!

#2: July 24, 2008

This is the bloom of what my mom has deemed the "Charla plant."  It was given to her when I was born and she still has it, almost 31 years later!  Isn't that amazing?  It has survived 2 moves, 2 children, numerous animals and several freezes.  I love it!

#3: July 25, 2008

This is a shower I helped host for one of my sweet, dear friends, Sami (left) , who was pregnant at the time with her daughter, Payton.  I am putting together the hostess gift, a jogger stroller, for Sami.

#4: August 16, 2008

This is my dad, lover of babies, holding my SIL's niece, Hannah.  We were in Dallas at Rice Ranch.  

#5: April 26, 2008

This is a picture of one of my good friends, Tania and her husband (fiance at the time), Matt.  This was at one of their engagement parties, and we had such a good time this night!  

Now, it's your turn!  This was actually really fun...going through my pictures brought back lots of fun memories!

And by the looks of things, 2008 was apparently full of Kodak moments !

If you participate, leave a comment here so I can come over and see!

Well, Blends, I apologize for the lack of posting in the last week.  Between Spring Break and an illness, I just haven't had the time and/or energy to think about it. 

I would like to fill you in on what's been going on in and around our hacienda for the last week.

First, though, I am happy to report that Joanne at Circle and Bloom kept her promise (as I knew she would) and the new version of Track 23 is perfect!  Thanks, Joanne!  If you don't know what I'm referring to, look at the two posts below this one to catch up. If you are here because you are suffering with infertility or know someone who is, take a minute and hop on over to their website.  You can download a sample before purchasing.

Okay, back to me (that was for you, AKP)!

Last week was my Spring Break from school.  Most years I really look forward to this time, I mean counting down the days/hours/minutes until the final bell rings on Friday.  But this year I wasn't as enthusiastic and really for no reason.

Friday came and I woke up with a somewhat scratchy throat, but I didn't think much of it.  Well, throughout the day it got worse and worse and I'm pretty sure I was sportin' a low-grade fever most of it.  Low and behold, I ended up with a nasty cold/virus of some sort that I dealt with all of Spring Break...nice, huh?

The first part of the week had McH heading North to Oklahoma and then Kansas on the hunt for his new spray rig.  He finally found the perfect one, and it is being delivered today.  I honestly can't believe I just typed that.  It's like it makes it real if I type it (or say it aloud).  Here's a picture of what we pray will be part of a successful new endeavor for Jenkins Ag Services. 

The Beast

You know what I've realized?  I miss my friends.  I feel like life is so busy and things are so crazy, I haven't had an opportunity to sit down around a table with my friends and just visit.  I dream of some good girlfriends and a glass of wine.  Wednesday I did get a chance to visit with two friends while they took their kiddos to the park (thanks for that, Amy and Sharon) and we all agreed we just don't get to hang out enough.  I needed the visit and the sunshine! 

Do you ever crave your friends?  Sometimes I just want nothing more than to be around the people who know me the best and love me in spite of that knowledge; real friends are people you can totally be yourself around and know that even when you are acting like a fool, or maybe don't look your best, they love you anyway. 

Thursday we packed up and headed South to Aggieland.  Some of our dearest friends just built a beautiful new home and invited us to come down and stay and help with their annual crawfish boil.  We had a great time and always LOVE getting to visit our old stomping grounds.  Lindsay and Rob actually live about 30 minutes from College Station so we just didn't have time to visit our other friends and family that lives there also.  We did get to see our former Sunday school teachers because they came to the crawfish boil.  I will admit...when they left, I cried.  I miss so much about College Station, and this sweet couple are some of the best people I know.  We love them like they are family, and every time we see them, it's like it hasn't been any time at all.  They were missionaries in Argentina and Costa Rica for many years, so we spent quite a bit of time talking about my trip to Peru this summer.  We will be back in a couple of months, so hopefully we will get to visit with more people then.  

While we were gone, it snowed in Childress.  I thought Spring had sprung!?  Guess the Texas Panhandle didn't get the message.  

We got back to town early this morning...2 a.m. to be exact and so I didn't actually get to bed until about 2:30.  I was EXHAUSTED this morning, and barely able to function.  Here's the reason we got home so late...

That's us, pulling a trailer full of steel pipe.  It took us 2 extra hours to get home because we had to stop and check on things, and we couldn't drive very fast with our load.  Add to that it was dark and the traffic was pretty heavy with Spring Breakers making the trek home, and it made for an extra long trip back.  

You should have seen us all stuffed into the cab of McH's truck.  We had plenty of room, but it was quite a sight with 3 dogs, 2 humans and all of our junk.  

Maggie and Marlee had a place set up in the back seat.  Sadie was back there, too some of the time.

But she also liked to join us in the front.  Look at her sitting like a little lady.  Every once in a while she'd get a little snack if I dropped a piece of popcorn "accidentally".

But I think the real reason she liked it in the front seat was because her daddy let her do this...and he scratched her head from time to time. 

She's no fool.  

So, it's Monday and we are back to the day to day grind.  I'm almost finished with a really good study called Being a Disciple: Counting the Real Cost by Kay Arthur.  

When I'm through, I look forward to sharing with you a little bit about the study itself and some of the things God is showing me through it.  It's been one of those studies that I'm not sure I want to finish because I know I'm going to be called to action and I'm not sure it's going to be easy.   

How May I Help YOU? Part 2 (see first part below)

Hello sweet Blends!  I fully intended on getting back to finish this story much sooner than now, but...well...it just didn't happen. 

So, let's just get right into it.  

I think I left off with the part where I was through with the program and planned on returning it the next day.

So, yesterday, during my conference I decided to email the people at Circle + Bloom to start the refund process.  The next part of this post is best explained by sharing our email correspondence with you.  

Here is the email I sent them initially (click on the picture to make it bigger)

And her first response to me:

And I realized after I'd sent it that my email didn't sound very nice, so here is my next response and my reasons for the program not working for me.  

And here is Joanne's next response:

Do you see what she is offering to do?  Basically, she wants to re-record the track that I was having issue with so that, if I'm interested, I can continue to use the program!!!  Are you kidding?  Who ever offers to do something like that.  Wait, it gets better...

Me:

Joanne:

And later..

And me again...

And Joanne's response:

And the last one from Joanne, in response to me asking whether she thought she could still edit the track that involved mother earth and such...

 In case you didn't follow that conversation, Joanne, the CEO of Circle + Bloom, is going to CHANGE the recording of Track 23 because she is dedicated to customer satisfaction.  Can you believe that?  

I just have to say, once again, that this is the absolute best customer service I've ever experienced in my life! 

If you are here because you, too, are an infertility sufferer, I would encourage you to stop by Circle + Bloom and at least check out the program.  You can download the free introduction and see what you think.  

Oh, and last night, I did as Joanne suggested and listened to Track 24.  As she promised, there was no mention of any spiritual beliefs or suggestions.  It was relaxing, and meditative, exactly what I initially bought the program for. 

I'm looking forward to hearing the edited version of Track 23!  

Hats off to you, Joanne and the staff of Circle + Bloom.