Happy Valentine's Day :-)

 Shawn had to go away on business this week. Instead of waiting until he gets home on Thursday, he decided to give me my Valentine present on Sunday night. 

He gave me a gorgeous plant, called a "Cyclamen" with beautiful red flowers.

He blessed me with not one, but two boxes of chocolates because I always share with the kids. They get their own chocolates, but they love to have some of mine.

The gift that you see above the chocolates is a nicely wrapped package containing all of the past Valentine cards and notes from the past 18 years that we have given to each other. 

He wrote in my card that he hopes I enjoy the trip down memory lane. What a sweet and romantic gift. I love it! 

In this picture I was looking at our engagement picture that Shawn placed on the top of the stack of cards. I had some big hair that resembled the 80's even though it was the early 90's when he proposed. Was hair still big at that time, or was I stuck in my younger days?

After reading a few I decided to wait until Shawn returns for us to read them together. We have a date night planned at the end of the week.

You wanna laugh at something? My husband is all the way in Kalamazoo for his work this week. It's 30 miles away from here! I find it funny that he couldn't sleep in his own bed each night because of the kind of conference it is. They have work dinners and team-building activities each evening. I miss him whenever he is away.

As I was showering and getting ready this morning, the children surprised me with pink, heart-shaped pancakes. We added some cherry preserves and whipped cream on top. Yum!

I think they did a fantastic job! 

I love having 6 Valentines. They are each special and dearly loved.

I made them a cake and they all received a box of chocolates.

I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's day. xoxo

meet my cousin's husband's brother

On one unsuspecting summer day back in July of 1993 I met a most amazing man. He was a young man in college studying to be a Food Scientist at Purdue University. I was a new doctor in the chiropractic field, a Palmer graduate.

He had not graduated yet. He was in the throws of his education at Purdue; I was a Jersey girl living in Iowa and practicing in Illinois. The last thought on his mind was a long-distance relationship. The first thought on my mind was, "I wonder who God has for me" back in those days and I certainly didn't think it was a college student from Indiana. I wasn't expecting to meet anyone that day.

All I expected was to have a fun-filled weekend with Jill and her family. You see, Jill is the cousin I grew up seeing on rare occasions when she came to visit New Jersey with her mom and some siblings. When I was in my teens I would go to family reunions in that far-off place called Indiana that was so unfamiliar to me. I grew up in an apartment in a one square mile town called Hoboken. She grew up with corn fields all around her. We said words like "water" and "coffee" with completely different dialects. Mine sounded more like "cauffee" and "wauta" and hers was, well, Midwestern sounding. She had beautiful, long blonde hair and smelled so pretty. She was like a big sister to me that loved me unconditionally. I have 4 wonderful big sisters and she would be the 5th. I truly looked up to her.

On that particular day, God must have whispered something in her ear very unexpectedly. He must have given her a boldness to ask her husband's brother to stick around because her cousin, me, would be pulling up after a long drive from Iowa and she wanted him to meet me. She must have liked playing cupid.   

And if you want to hear more about my love story, you'll have to stay tuned this week. It's the perfect story for the week of Valentine's day, wouldn't ya say?

Oh, what a catch!

don't get old

Do you know how many times I've heard that phrase, mostly from my older patients? After talking to them about how they are feeling and having them lay face-down on my adjusting table, they would inevitably say,

"Don't get old!" 

And do you recall when your mom used to try to read something moving the book, newspaper, canned good, etc. further away from her face, and then moving it closer then further again? She was doing this to try to find clear focus, and you would think, "I don't have to do that to read." 

Well guess what!? 

I now need reading glasses. I'm getting old and I move objects closer & further & closer... to. try. and. read. them.

I purchased these beauts about a year ago when my nearsightedness wasn't enough. 

It wasn't enough that I needed contacts. I also needed to find a +1.25 pair of glasses to aid in my reading. 

Ha! Is anyone else with me?? 

Charlie - Our Pup

Look at this little pup! He was born on April 23, 2011.

We brought him home last June after an Open House/Graduation party we went to down in Indiana. The party was for my nephew Will and my 2nd cousin, Phillip.

They both attend Purdue University like my husband did so that makes him a proud uncle. :) 

He is 3/4 Australian Shepherd/ 1/4 Black Labrador.
The kids like to say he is a "Shepherdor". That might be an actual word, but I never refer to him by that breed name. 

I think this picture was taken last month which makes Charlie 9 months old. 

Don't they change so much in such a short period of time? 

Puppies are a lot of work, but he is so worth it. He has a sweet temperament with a bit of a sneaky side. We never did take him to puppy school and we aren't the best trainers, but we try our best.

Update on my challenges:

Water Consumption: more than I usually drink, but not 6 large glasses a day.
Bible Reading: I am reading each day so far, but it's only been a couple of days.
Blog writing: Yep, I am working it even though it's almost 9:00 at night. :-)

Be Blessed.

Mercy Triumphs

I am so excited!!

This morning between 9 and 11, I'll be at church with a bunch of beautiful ladies starting Beth Moore's latest Bible study. I have been hearing great things about it already. I love Beth's style and how she has her readers dig into God's Word, taking it apart bit by bit, revealing truths that if read alone, would not be found. God has given her a true gift. 

By the time you read this, I will have been on a run for 2 miles with my friend, Kristen. We are training for a half marathon in May. It all started with my friend, Pam. We each started the whole running thing about the same time last May or June. Eventually the Lord brought us together in this particular effort and it has been amazing. Before we joined forces, my hubby, who was reluctant to run due to knee issues, joined me. Since we have started running, we have done an official 4 mile race, a 10K, and now we are onto a half marathon. He'll be joining us on May 6th, but at a much faster pace. Oh and by the way, his knees feel great!