Change

I think I've sat down a few times to update this but have failed to get anything written before something came up.  So here we are at the very end of May, my how time flies.  Life is crazy as usual, but I think Chris and I are learning to adjust to it well.  

There have been several changes going on around us that will continue to impact our life.  Our church is going through some major changes.  Brian Crump, the guy who has been our youth minister for as long as I've been here is going to be changing roles.  He will be the Minister of Missions (and something else I can never remember) We now have a new youth minister as well.  He is actually already known around our church.  About a year before I arrived here they went through a Young Adults Minister change.  During the transition time this young man, Randy was running the department.  He left College Station and has been a Youth minister for the last five years.  He now returns to take over at FBC as the youth minister.  Chris knows him from when he was here before and is really excited about him being here with our youth.  

The other big change our church is going through is our Pastor, Tim Owens is leaving.  He is going to a small area in Oklahoma.  He will be pastoring at (from what I understand) the church he first started in.  Its a very small church from what I gather.  It sounds like a neat opportunity and something he seems really excited about, but it leaves our church without a pastor.  If you have never been through a change in pastor its not very fun.  It takes patience and understanding.  Our church will be putting together a search committee soon.  Please pray for our members as they pray about who they would suggest to be on the committee.  Its hard in a church this large because to be honest I just don't know that many of the people.  Granted, I know quite a few from being with the youth and from working in the nursery but I still feel like I don't know many.   Either way, things are going to be interesting for a while.  Please pray for what will happen. 

Such Joy and Such Sorrow

Life has been a bit of a whirlwind lately. Last Wednesday Chris and I packed up all of our stuff along with our boys and headed to the booming town of Andrews, Texas. We were very excited because we were getting to add a sister to our sweet family. We now are a family of 7. Its a bit of a change from the 5 we grew up as. In a matter of 7 months my parents have gained an amazing son and a beautiful daughter. We had the joy of adding the beautiful Crystal Lynn Rogers to our family. The wedding was beautiful and Cole beamed. I know I'm partial because he is my brother but it was a joyful and beautiful thing to watch. There is such joy in seeing my brother that happy. If my feet weren't killing me I probably would have been jumping up and down the whole time because I was just so excited! I don't know if I have ever seen two people who go together as good as Cole and Lynn do. We had a great time seeing our whole family. Will, Jordan and Scuba even came down to celebrate with us. It was a lot of fun and we are SO excited to have Mrs. Lynn Rogers!! :-D This picture was taken by Aunt Carol (who did their pictures) This is just a couple but the rest she posted are on her blog ladyinashoe.blogspot.com feel free to check them out!

Following the wedding we hung out with family for a little while and Sunday headed home. We got in late and of course got little sleep. Its always worth it though. Monday while I was in class Chris found out his grandfather had fallen. Pretty much all we knew at that point was that he was taken in a ambulance. At about 11 that night we found out that he suffered a massive stroke and his chances of recovery were slim. He had brain hemoraging and he was on life support. The next morning we found out that there was no chance of recovery. The doctor suggested the three girls (Nandad's daughters) wait 48 hours before making any decisions to take him off life support. Most of the family had a chance to come in and it was peaceful how he left us. Sadly, Chris and I could not make it due to work. We will be heading out in the morning to Colfax, Louisiana to be with family and for the funeral.

I personally only knew Nandad for about two or so years, but even in the little time I knew him I could tell he was a special man. He lived a life worth living. He had three daughters who each have two children and some of them now have children. Nandad had a big family and each one of them adored him. He never met a stranger and he would talk to anyone. He was such a sweet man. So this weekend we will go down and celebrate his life and that we all got to be a part of it. Its such a joy to be able to do knowing he is now with Father and he is free to walk and run around without pain. Thank you Father for the life you gave Nandad and the love you portrayed through him.

And So Begins a New Year!

Well, sort of a new year. Since it is almost February I'm a little behind but thats okay! The holidays were good. Chris and I spent Christmas Day at home together just us. It was nice. We got up that morning and exchanged gifts and went to see Bedtime Stories. It was a really cute movie! That night we went to some friends house and ate dinner and played games. It was a lot of fun. We then got up really early the next morning and headed to Nandad's. There we met Mary, Roy, Meredith, Mike and Matthew along with the extended family. We had a lot of fun just getting to spend time with everyone. We watched movies, played Murder and ate a whole lot! We came home Sunday and worked for three days. Late New Year's Eve we headed to West Texas! We had the Rogers family Christmas on New Year's morning. That weekend turned out to be an adventure with two weddings on the same day! We had a lot of fun with the family though, staying up wayyy to late playing games. Our holidays turned out to be really good.

Since then we have been working away. Chris had a new doctor take over the vet hospital he works at. He really likes him and he is a really nice guy. He has helped us out in ways he doesn't even understand! Chris is also getting more hours so that is helping too. We had to change the alternator in the truck a few weeks ago so his extra hours have turned out to be a huge blessing to help with that! My work continues to be great. I'm doing as much as I can around the office and entertaining myself the rest of the time. I've almost watched every episode of Numb3rs there is.

The last week or so has been a little more difficult. I started having pain in my left side not too long after Christmas and I went to the doctor last week. He wanted me to do a ct scan and so that was done last week as well. I don't know the results of that yet. But I have also had a problem with my tonge the last few years, it has gotten worse over time. My tonge brakes out and swells after I eat some things. So I went to a specialist on Monday and I found out I'm allergic to corn and yeast. (let me tell you how fun that is) So I've taken them out of my diet. I've had to go all organic because just about everything you are use to buying at the store has enriched flour in it and I can't have that. It has something to do with the yeast part. Then any type of corn syrup, corn starch or anything of the sort is out too. Then as you know, yeast is in bread, one of my favorite foods! Stink! But I've found so yeast-free recipes for bread I can try. It has been one big adventure. Our parents have been really supportive in helping us out with ideas and just wanting to be supportive in any way possible. We are also thinking now, after we know the allergies that the pain could be because of the allergies. Since we don't know the result of the scan yet we don't know that for sure but I think it is possible.

Anyways, things are fixing to get going quickly. This weekend we are headed to Dallas to see Mary & Roy. I'm sure we will also get to see Meredith, Mike and Matthew as well. We will be leaving late Friday night after Chris gets off work and spending some good time relaxing. It is much needed since the weekend after I will be running around like a chicken with my head cut off! We have Lynn's shower and I think they are doing something for Cole, but I don't know what. So the following weekend we will be headed to west Texas to showers. We will be home for one weekend and head back the following Wednesday the 18th to have us a wedding!! We are so excited to officially have Lynn as a Rogers!

Things, although a little rough, have been overall, good for us lately. We have struggles that make us rely on each other and I think that will be one of the biggest foundations of our marriage as we get older.

Star filled nights and cows

I got a little story for ya Ags! (if you aren't an Aggie, this is the proper way to start a story in Aggieland)



So last week Chris and I tried our hand at homemade biscuits and gravy. To say the least, it wasn't the best I ever had. The gravy actually turned out really good, the biscuits on the other hand, well we could have used them as rocks. Okay, maybe they weren't that bad, but that weren't really good either. It had been a rough day for me anyways, so it probably wasn't the best night for me to try something new that is easy to mess up, but we did. So by about 9:00 I was really frustrated and ready to just go to bed. Chris walked in the bedroom, where I was spralled across the bed and asked if I wanted to go out in the country and look at stars. (if you don't know, the ability of being able to see just about every star in the sky on a clear night is one of the things I miss the most about Andrews [except you, mom and dad]) So I got all excited and made a thermos of spice tea and got 2 comforters and 2 body pillows and we loaded up the truck. We drove out on OSR and found a small road we could pull down without many lights. We found a place we could pull into some grass beside a fence without any trees and parked the truck. Chris pulled the tarp out of the truck and started laying it out in the bed of the truck. I was beginning to get the pillows and Spice tea when we heard something. We turned around to the fence and here came about 6 cows headed straight for us. They came to the fence and watched us as we got the bed of the truck all set up for star gazing. Apparently they throughly enjoyed watching us set up the truck because they stood there and watched us the whole time. Then we got everything set up and we curled up under the comforter and looked at the beautiful sky! After a couple of minutes we could hear really loud music coming from somewhere right over the hill where the cows came from (the cows that were still standing there) I'm pretty sure the music was from the movie Grease. So after a few minutes the music stopped and I got the scene from Tommy Boy in my head where Tommy took his new brother cow-tippin' and the farmer comes out with a shotgun after them, in my head. So I began to get a little nervous, not to mention that every time i made a sudden move, like moving my head real quick to look from the sky to the cows, they huffed and moved a little. So I asked Chris if we could go home. I loved the idea of going out, but I couldn't get the farmer with a shotgun out of my head!



Our night turned out to be very interesting! The cows were a funny sight to see!



Other than fun nights with cows, we are doing pretty good. Chris isn't feeling well today so he is headed to the doctor. His job search also continues. We have a friend who has a dentist practice (or whatever you would call that) and she is looking for a receptionist. It would be 30 hours a week and either no Fridays or 1/2 day on Friday, so it would give us stable hours and we would both go to work at the same time and get home at the same time. O how nice that would be!! Then if I got off work early on Friday, which I do from time to time, we would have all weekend OFF!! WOO HOO!! That would be SO nice!!

Our newest adventure in life comes with the title Independent Pampered Chef Consultant! I have just started selling Pampered Chef and I love it! I'm so excited to be doing it. Chris and I make enough money to pay our bills, but we don't really have any left over to have a life on. We really enjoy our friends but more often than not, the things we would like to do with them cost money, so I wanted to do something that would give us some play money. So I am now consultant number 567754! Welcome to the world of every cool kitchen thing you could think of!! I love it! Granted, I can't buy everything yet, but my time will come! So if you ever want anything from Pampered Chef, call me up! Or, better yet, host a show and get GREAT discounts! The adventure of having a home based business has been a fun one! Chris has helped me out a lot with it. We have gotten a filing cabinet (thank you Roy and Mary!) and I have my desk set up to be my office! Its fun and I'm learning a lot! Most of what I have learned is how to cook simple meals that taste wonderful! Chris says his biggest perk of all of this is that I cook more, and I do! I cook almost everyday! I love it!

I think those are our biggest adventures right now. Life has been pretty good lately, a little hard but good for the most part! This weekend we are headed to Ennis to my cousin's wedding! He will be marring the beautiful Amber! We are very excited to have her in our family!

Life

Wow, its been a while since I've written on this thingy! I suppose now is as good of a time as any! Fair warning: I have a lot to say!

I was just on a friend's blog reading her reflections. She and I went to Zimbabwe together last summer and I was reading her reflections on where she is now one year later. She made some interesting points that hit home directly with me too.
She said it best:
"Anyway, is it weird that I still feel so attached to Zimbabwe? I mean, I was only there for two weeks and I can’t pinpoint what about it that captured me. It was a really fun trip, but nothing specifically to inspire this love. The first two weeks after I got back, I had the most vivid dreams about Zim. It was crazy. Now, I’ve been back for over a year, but still those feelings can still be whipped up by simply getting a whiff of the shampoo I used there or a cup of English Breakfast Tea. It seems like about half the people I know who went to a country in Africa see it as just another cool experience, but for myself and a few others, it just seems to have sparked this irrational love. "
I can't say that I had the vivid dreams but I have days when I long to be there with every fiber of my being. I don't know what it is about that place but I pray that God has it in his plan for me to return.

I could go on about my wonderful Zim for quite some time, but I will leave that for later.

As for Chris and I, life seems to continue to through curve balls at us. Some day things will settle down and it won't feel like this (or thats what I like to tell myself) but we are managing to make it. We are in a Bible Study/Small group thing on Wed. nights with a bunch of other newlyweds and one couple who will be married in April. The class is a lot of fun and we really enjoy the people. Last week we were talking about divorce (as a rabbit we were chasing) and we were talking about the current divorce rate vs back in the day and weather it was more culture or what. I believe it is culture to an extent, because back in the day that just wasn't done but I also had another idea. Back in the day people got married a lot younger, my grandmother for example, got married when she was 15. I think that some of the success rate of couples from that time (getting married early) has to do with the fact that when they started off their marriage they didn't have set careers and settled homes. They had to figure it out together and start everything together. They had a lot of hard times and I'm sure all they had at times was each other. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking waiting and getting married when your life is more stable, but I believe the hardships these couples faced made their marriage stronger. You know the old saying, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." I believe it works here. So with that in mind I find encouragement. Chris and I were talking and it seems like since about 2 weeks before the wedding its been one thing after another. At times it feels like we've been knocked down and are being kicked. But I now see that as our hardships that will make us stronger in the end and one day we will be the cute little old couple who wear fanny packs and hold hands as they walk around the mall (minus the fanny packs).

A month ago my great-grandmother died. She and Pa-Paw were one of those couples. They were old school. Thats how I want to be. I think we have good odds, the genes seem to be passed along. My grandparents (my great-grandmother's daughter and my dad's mom) have been together since they were 14. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversery my freshman year in college. Then my parents. They have been together since their Jr. year of high school and were married right after high school. When it comes to marriage and how to do it and how to love someone else with all you are, these people are my heroes. My grandfather has had some health issues over the last year or so and my mom told me one day that he was talking to my Nana and she asked if he was going to be okay (or something to that extent) and he said "As long as I have you" Thats what I want. My great-grandmother was a strong woman. She lived without Pa-Paw for several years. She was the founder of the "Tough Old Broad Society" Which my grandmother is currently holding the president position of. G.G. was witty and man could she say some things that make you fall out of your chair. My family sat around the night before her funeral and told stories. I don't think I've ever seen my cousin Jeremy's face to red. She lived a good life. We were blessed to have her. So at the ripe old age of 98 she went home to see Jesus and Pa-Paw.

One thing I see Father teaching me through all of the craziness Chris and I call life together, is that no matter the situation -- anything from not working for a week to go to funerals on the other side of the state to money (which I have found is a huge stress and something Father understands and handles very well)--no matter the situation, He has control. Being newlyweds and still trying to figure out how to work and get back into school and all of that, money is a struggle for us, as it is for many couples I'm sure. One night I was just really stressed about it all and Chris and I were laying in bed and he had just prayed and I had what I like to call a "brilliant idea" in other words, it was one of those things that I could not have come up with on my own so it was definatly Father speaking to me. But I had been trying to figure all of this out for about a week, and if you know me I pack it all inside me and deal with it inside until I have it figured out. Well that generally takes its toll on me and I break. So this night was my breaking point. I had spent a week trying to figure this out and the fact of the matter is that I wasn't going to be able to. I see that now... So as I layed there this "brillant idea" came to me. Father was like 'hey, I have an idea. How about you let me handle it.' WOW! At that point I realized Chris and I weren't going to be able to make it on our own but that we needed his help. Its amazing what happens in life when we just let go and let God. I've seen him do some amazing things lately and I know I will continue to see this. I'm just thankful he is patient enough to stick with us.

"You are blessed when you are at the end of your rope. There is less of you and more room for God and his rule." Matt 5:6 - the Message

Honeymoon!

Its been a while since our honeymoon but I thought I'd post a few pictures. If you have facebook almost all of them are on there. Here I'm only putting a select few. Also Carol has some of our wedding pictures up on her blog! She was our photographer and she did amazing! Her blog is ladyinashoe.blogspot.com if you are interested.

As far as our life goes, we are doing well. Labor Day weekend was a little rough but we are recovering. We also have new Wagner family pictures I will steal off of facebook and post. Our house is coming along, very slowly but surely. Mom told me the other day that when we get our new couches the motivation will probably return. I sure hope so! We do have some parts done. Our kitchen and dinning room look good. We need to hang a few shelves in the dinning room but it looks good even now. Our room is done, messy because we are lazy and don't pick up clothes but done as far as work. Our dryer still is out. We are trying to get our reality company to come fix it but they are being lazy. So we continue to mouch off of friends to borrow their washer and dryers! As bad as it is it does present an opportunity to hang out with good friends we don't normally get a chance to just be with. I do see the positive with this.

Our next adventures will be to Dallas and Andrews. We are headed to Dallas next weekend to pick up our new couches! We are excited to be getting them! Will is planning on going with us. I believe his whole motivation is seeing Roy's 52 inch tv. It will be fun either way. The weekend after that we will be headed to Andrews. We were trying to space our trips out a little better, but my grandmother is having her other knee replaced on the 22nd so we are going to see her before that happens so we can get some mad card playing in! Scuba will be going with us on that trip. Mom is excited to have both of her new sons coming to see her. That will be a fun trip. We will be playing lots of cards and murder I'm sure! It will be good to see my grandparents!

After those two trips we plan to not go so much for a while. I have a retreat I'm going to in October but other than that we don't really have plans to be going anywhere for a while. The begining of next year will be enough I'm sure with the million weddings coming up! We just found out Lee and Luke, some of my good friends from back in Andrews just got engaged! We are SUPER excited for them!!

Well here are the pictures I promised:

Us being silly at the airport with my comics

View from dinner one night...LOVE Mt. Rainer

We got to FEED GIRAFFES!!!!!

Chris taunted the poor guy

Us with the mighty lion!

Shark : Big

Chris : Small

We Loved the otters! They mate for life and take care of their families! And they are cute!

At the top of the Space Needle!

The Sunset that day

The guy who worked the elevator on the way down said it was the best of the season!

Us at dinner! See that big bowl? That was my dinner!!

The beautiful Mt. Rainer! We plan to go back just to camp at Mt. Rainer!! SO Beautiful!!

Mr. & Mrs. Wagner!

So its all over! August 9th finally came and is now long gone! We had a blast getting to see everyone and everyone dancing!! (thank you by the way to everyone who did the Cha Cha with us!!) It was a lot of fun!

Here are some wedding pictures. I stole these from friend's facebook pages so some are blury and far away but you get the picture!

All in all it was a lot of fun! We are glad to finally be in the same home and starting our life together!

The Fellas
The ladies
My dad saying "you know they are all staring at me because they have never seen me in an outfit like this before"

"Who gives this lady"

"Her brothers, Her Mother and I"

Right after the unity sand when my uncle Michael (the pastor) walks up and looks at Chris and goes "your last name is Watson, right?" haha

Mr. & Mrs. Wagner! Me lauging hard as the groomsmen line up to all give Chris a "good game"

the Man of Honor and the Bride

Almost all of the musicians!

Will giving me "Chris's Marbles" that he lost...

Me Kicking my new husband for trying to put icing on me!