Blessed by...

This week's "Blessed by..." is one of the big ones! I have been soooo blessed throughout my life by...Kathy Cate, my mom! What a woman! :)


Like many kids, I didn't fully realize the greatness of my mom until I was older with a daughter of my own. Let me tell you, when I was growing up, this woman HAD IT TOGETHER. But I had no idea...

I had no idea the amount of energy she used when every week she worked AT MINIMUM 40 hours a week. I had no idea that when she then went to the gym several nights a week, she was really putting forth effort....and she was buff! :) I had no idea what it took for her to be able to do these things and still cook dinner often for us. I had no idea how draining it was for her to stay up so late helping us with school projects...posters, reports, shadow boxes (remember those?!), etc. I had no idea how frustrated she must have gotten when she still had to pick up after all of us constantly, yet she did it. I had no idea how AWESOME she was when she was playing softball and volleyball in addition to all the busyness of life...and btw these are some of my very favorite memories. Yep, she had it together alright. If only I could have appreciated it during the time it was all going on. Man, I want to be like her. I'm still baffled how she could do it all when I struggle so much myself with less than this.


I had no idea how lucky I was to be raised in a Christian home. I had no idea that the godly woman I call my mom was setting such a good example for me that I would carry with me forever. I had no idea that when she and my dad were "making me" go to GMAs or SWAT, they were helping to instill a faith in me that was so deeply rooted, that it would surface years later as I fought my way out of a dark place that I struggled in for a VERY LONG TIME. I had no idea that she'd never give up on me even when it probably seemed I was a lost cause. I had no idea that one day I would want to be like her...because I thought she was just a silly PARENT that didn't know anything...at least not as much as I did. :) Nope, I had no idea how lucky I was...and still am.


I had no idea when I was little that years later my mom would be diagnosed with Parkinsons and Dystonia. I had no idea that I'd have to watch that strong, athletic, busy-bodied woman have to go through such tough times. I had no idea that I could hurt so much for her and not know how to express it. I had no idea that the crazy woman would try her best to keep up a strong front for US in her increasingly difficult battle. Then years later, I had no idea that my mom would be diagnosed with Uterine cancer on top of everything else. I had no idea how hard it would be to watch her go through surgeries and feel as if she were so fragile.


HOWEVER....I also had no idea how STRONG I would discover my mom is. I had no idea that when she got sick she would be such a fighter. I had no idea she could still be a ray of sunshine in my life. I had no idea that she would remain faithful to God and continue to be a good example for me and everyone around her. I had no idea she would still be so devoted to her family and making others happy. She is one of the most unselfish people I know. I had no idea she was sooo AMAZING! But. She. Is.

I LOVE YOU MOM!! You are so amazing and I am so proud to call you my mom! You are one of the strongest people I know. You have blessed me more than I could ever describe. Thank you.

These pics are from Easter. Drue LOOOVES her MeMo! :) The bottom pic is my dad and me with my mom. I love them. :)

Anniversary!

Our 1st Anniversary was this past Sunday, the 21st! Woo hoo! We didn't have any big plans. I only had one thing in mind that I wanted to do....I wanted to have cake and punch. I know that sounds dumb, but that is what I wanted! Haha! First of all, you must understand that I LOVE punch. Not like Mexican fruit punch, Hawaiian punch, or even Stoby's punch (which I do also love)...no no, I love party punch! :) The different kinds of punch that are served at birthday parties, showers, weddings....yuuuummmmm! AND we didn't even get to have any of our punch at our wedding...which I heard was delicious... :( Yep...I needed cake and punch for sure.

Well...we decided to have some folks from our small group over on Saturday night for a (rainy) cookout and some games. So our good friends--the Linkers, Nick, and Kati--all came over for some food and fun. Nick had asked me what he could bring. I told him what we were having and said if he wanted anything else he could bring it. Well, that didn't work. He asked again. So after MUCH more prying (or one more text asking me what he could bring), I finally gave in and told him my secret anniversary wish. He laughed at me...via text. But he told me he wanted to bring the stuff to make the punch. Yea!! I was very excited.

I told Kati the story, and she too thought it was funny. But I didn't think much else about it until a couple hours before she was supposed to be there. The text said "Hope you like chocolate cake" She had made a cake! So sweet!

We had such a great time with everyone that night. And I will say that I was not the only one that loved the punch that night. There were 6 of us there...I think only 5 of us were drinking punch...it was almost gone at the end of the night. Yeah, I'm probably going to have to do this every year! Also, congrats to Kati for setting a Farkle record...I've never seen anyone take sooo long to get on the board! Haha! We even gave her a sympathy roll to try to help her. And it was her first time playing....bummer! I really really hope she'll play with us again sometime!

Blessed by...

I was talking with a friend at work this week. His name is Ryan Johnson and he's a member of my church family. I have known him for awhile. He is good friends with Justin, although they don't get to hang out as much as they would like.

Ryan is a very godly man. I've had the opportunity to have some pretty good conversations with him. I was able to talk with him earlier this week at lunch one day. I started talking to him about how weird I thought it was that I felt busier and more overwhelmed with life since I've gotten married. I mean, come on...obvioulsy I should feel less stressed since I've gained a partner in life! :) Justin helps me with everything I need him to. And he is happy to do it. He will gladly pick up Drue if I need him to. He helps her with homework or AWANA verses. He'll even run to Wal-mart for the smallest thing we need without complaining. :) He is such a helpful husband. Why, then, do I seem to feel so much more overwhelmed these days?

See, when I was single, I felt I could do it all. I did everything I had to. I worked 40 hours a week, helped Drue with AWANA, did my Bible Study, helped with homework, stayed on top of what Drue needed for school (including costumes, stuff for parties, etc), paid the bills, spent lots of time with Drue, spent lots of time with my parents and my brother's family....the list goes on and on. So, WHY is it now that I feel like we're always in a rat race? Why is there never enough time anymore? I mean, I know everyone is very busy...but how is it that I had time to do all of these things before, but now there is no way I could possibly get everything done alone (sometimes we can't even get it done together)?

While discussing this with Ryan, he said something that has just blessed me all week long. He said "Isn't it cool how God gives us strength when we need it?" What? I had never even thought of it that way. He was absolutely right! I'm not "supposed" to be able to do it all. I haven't lost any of my ability or drive. I'm not a failure...haha! God gave me strength when I needed it! How AWESOME is that?! Wow! Even as I sit here, I am so humbled by God and how much He loves me.

Thank you, Lord, for loving me and providing for me. Thank you for giving me the strength and courage to do what I needed to do during that difficult time in my life. And thank you for allowing Ryan to bless me by reminding me of your love! "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." Psalm 46:1

Blessed by...

Today I have been blessed by one of our students! I won't put her name on here because I don't know if she would want me to. But this girl is just a little ray of sunshine! She seems to always be positive and always smiling. So for this post, we'll just call her Sunshine. :)

I was on the phone this morning with a parent when I saw Sunshine walking around in the offices, but I didn't pay much attention. But then she came into our office with roses and cards for us! Little Miss Sunshine had brought roses and cards for all of us!

Wow!! And she had written in the card. And not just like "Have a nice day. Love, Sunshine" She actually took the time to write how she thanks God for me. How I am a bright, beautifully made woman of God. And that she hopes she brightened my day just a little. Just a little?! Sunshine just blessed my socks off! What a precious girl. Thank you, Lord, for wonderful, encouraging people like Sunshine! Help me to show your love through encouragement like Sunshine has done!

OUCH!!

Well, the time has come....to get my butt back into shape (not literally just my butt, although it is included)! 25 years people! 25 years I ate whatever I wanted, exercised as little as I wanted, and stayed as thin as I wanted. Well, NO MORE! Around the time I turned 25, I started gaining a little weight. I'm still not sure what happened to me because my eating habits really haven't changed...they are equally as bad now as they always have been. Since the time I turned 25 (about 20 months ago), I have slowly, but increasingly, been gaining. Well, it's time to put a STOP to that!

I have joined a "Biggest Loser" weight-loss challenge at work recently...and I'm going to win! ;) It's from March 5 to May 7 (i think). To aid me in my weight-loss attempt, I have joined the Women Can Run clinic in Conway. I'm loving it so far. I really would love to become a runner! Really! I used to love to run when I was young. I was pretty fast, too. I mean, so what if the 5th grade track meet was the highlight of my running career?! I was the best female 5th grade runner for the 100 meter dash (or is it yard? clearly this was important to me) that year! Haha! I would love to think there's still a little runner in there somewhere just dying to be let loose.

Also, some friends and I decided to do like a mini boot camp at the fitness center...I'm not actually sure what the official name of our little 4-person class is. Anyway, yesterday was our first day. I had my reservations about participating. First of all, we meet at 5:30...in the morning! What? Ok, maybe to some of you that's not a big deal, but I can probably count the number of times I've gotten up that early on my fingers. And if you take away surgeries, Race for the Cures, and church trips, I'm not sure there would be anything left! So...apparently I was on edge all night Tuesday night because I woke up easily at 3:00 and thought it was 5:00. I sat on the edge of the bed stretching, trying to wake up and start my day. Luckily, I quickly realized my mistake. When 5:00 finally came, I got up, got dressed, and got to the fitness center...a huge accomplishment in itself. When I left 30 minutes later, my arms were jello. J-E-L-L-O! It was almost funny. I had trouble controlling them a little bit. Man, I'm gonna be sore tomorrow, I thought dismissively.

OH...MY...GOODNESS!!! Sore doesn't even begin to describe what I am feeling today. Literally, my husband had to PULL me out of bed this morning because I couldn't move. You name it, it's sore...for the most part anyway. My legs and butt are a little sore, but my upper body is RIDICULOUS! It's been almost funny at times, but man does it HURT! The best part is...I'm usually more sore the 2nd day. Can't wait to see what tomorrow holds... :)

I know it will get better and I'm going to stick with it. I don't know how many of you guys know my mom, but I just KNOW there are some "Kathy Cate" genes inside me just dying to get out!! And I'm going to unleash them! I just have to find my motivation and stay focused....no matter how painful it may be at first.

AND if I happen to do horribly or quit the running clinic or boot camp and don't win the Biggest Loser challenge and you never hear about it again...just disregard this post! ;)

Blessed by...

I AM BLESSED! I am so thankful for the many, many blessings I receive constantly. In my human nature, sometimes it's easy to forget how blessed I actually am. I have a Savior that LOVES me, wonderful family, a warm home, a great job, amazing friends and church family, food to eat, clothes to wear, freedom to openly profess my Christianity...the list goes on and on. I could obviously NEVER list them all. But I would like to focus on the people God put in my life that have blessed me.

I am going to try every week (or two?) here on my blog to just acknowledge someone who has blessed me. It may be something huge they did, or something they never even knew blessed me. I am so excited about this!! :)

For my first "Blessed by..." entry, I'm going to go for the obvious....my husband, Justin. The man who has to put up with me and all my imperfections all the time. :) I am so very blessed by him. He is a very sweet man. Most importantly, He loves the Lord and seeks Him daily! He genuinely desires to follow God in all areas of life. That is so important! There is no doubt in my mind that God sent him to me.

He is one of the most thoughtful people I know. He sends me sweet text messages throughout the day to let me know he loves me. He lets me pick chick-flicks on movie nights. I get to pick restaurants on nights we eat out. I even get to control the radio station in the car! :) Not that it's always rainbows and sunshine by any means, but WOW is he a thoughtful guy! I definitely don't question whether or not I am loved....he loves me!! :)

Not only has he blessed me as a husband, he has blessed me by the role he plays in Drue's life. He is so good to her. I've gotten to see several sides of him through his interaction with Drue. First, the side that loves to be a kid and play. And man, do they ever love to PLAY! They're always horsing around, teasing each other, poking each other, etc. My favorite is when they try to get me involved by telling on the other one...haha!

Then, there's the side that can sit down and teach her or help her with things. He has helped her with math homework, class projects, softball, guitar, awana verses, etc. The list really does go on and on. He is so caring. He really wants her to learn and succeed in the things he helps her with.

There's also the slightly more serious side when we all sit down to do her devotional or have prayer time. These are precious moments. We have a little book of devotionals that we do with her at night. It has been so much fun for us to go through this book with her. We all enjoy that time together learning a little something about God's Word. As for prayer time, we take turns praying to bless the food at dinner each night...one night I pray, one night Justin prays, one night Drue prays. But at bedtime....ooooh it's one of my favorite times! We all go in Drue's room and we all three pray. I love love love this time with them. I think it's so important for us to all pray together. She needs to hear us pray daily! So special!

Anyway, the point is....I am blessed by Justin Berg!! :) He's such a great husband and step-dad. He has a great heart! He's a very kind, loving man. I could never put into words how much he actually blesses me daily, and this was probably a poor attempt...haha! But I appreciate him so much! And love him! Thank you, Lord, for bringing Justin to us!

Hannah Montana Shades! :)

Taking a silly pic together...

A Star in the Making???

Drue has a new hobby! She got a guitar for Christmas. She loved it! While doing some cleaning this weekend, I came across a paper she had written at school. Here it is exactly as it was written:

"The present that I got was a gutar. I got it from santa. It is just my size too. It has a cool pattern around the circle. It is light brown. It wasn't tuned but my step dad tuned it. It came with four pick's. It is the best present anywone could ever have. It is awesome. It was my favorite present."

She is just so sweet. Of course she got a big, red "Good job!" in response! Haha! I have secretly (or not so secretly...I'm pretty sure I told my dad, but he said he couldn't teach me) always wanted to learn to play the guitar. Justin plays the guitar, so the plan has been for him to go through a DVD with Drue specifically designed to help children learn to play. However, we have been so busy lately trying to keep up with life, that they hadn't had a chance to dive into the wonderful world of guitar playing. :)

Tonight as I finished my Bible Study, I came out of the bedroom and went to Drue's room. This was the scene before me:

Aren't they precious? This melts my heart!!! I'm so thankful for the bond they share. They went through some of the video that talked about holding the guitar, tuning the guitar, and forming the G-chord EZ form.

Drue's G-chord EZ form...with hair still wet from the shower :)

Our new guitar player!















I'm excited for Drue! She did great tonight! Maybe I'll hang around these two and pick up a few guitar tips of my own! ;)