Test Results and more Information

I heard from the doctor on Tuesday. Here is a copy of the email I sent to some close friends and family:
Hey Everyone, After 3 days of phone tag with the nurse at my doctors office (**very frustrating**) I finally talked to my nurse. As many of you know already, my well woman pap came back abnormal- nothing new. This is why I've gone in like 4 times in the last year. Each time they have pinched off my insides and tested them further, which always came back negative. Until now. It came back positive for pre-cancer cells and I have to go in for out patient surgery. We don't have a date yet, I now have to wait on the surgery scheduler to call me. The surgery takes an hour and I can choose to be awake or be put out. If Insurance covers it, you can assure yourself I will be asleep for this. The surgery clears out all the areas that have showed up positive (which is all the ones tested). It does not assure that this will not happen again but hopefully, and God willing, my immune system will fight it and it won't happen again. Only time can tell us. I will update y'all as I get information. Love you all!

Well, I got more information so here it is:

First, I must say thank you from the depths of my heart for all the encouragement and support each and every one of you has already extended to me. Love, prayers, encouraging words, foot massages, food... you name it! :-) Thank you! The Lord has reminded me how loved and cared for I really am and I thankful for this and for each of you.

Second, I have more information:

James and I go in for our Pre-Op appointment with the doctor Thursday, October 16th at 3:40. This was wonderful because it was basically their last open appointment for the week and it does not require me to leave work early enough to make a difference to the kids, if early at all. So praise Him in that. I stress out some when I have to miss work. I feel like it takes more work to miss work then just being there myself. The actual surgery will be Tuesday, October 21 at 9:15 in the morning. At first I was thinking- 9:15, not bad. I can sleep in a little... like a whole 2-2 1/2 hours- SWEET! No such luck :-/ I have to be there 1 1/2 before surgery time. I obviously don't go in for surgery very often, bc I was like why in the heckola do I have to be there that early?!?! But whatever the reason, I am sure it is important and we will be there at 7:45 in the morning. There are 2 parts to the surgery from my understanding (please keep in mind the only time I have talked to anyone is during class while I am trying to listen and maintain the calmness of 22 hyperactive 5 year olds. lol.) One part is cauterization and the other part is CO2. It should take an hour, maybe a little longer. If I choose to go under anesthesia, I then have to stay until I wake and use the restroom or something. I feel like I missed something when the scheduler talked about this part... I did hear another hour to hour and a half. Whichever, I'd be there longer. I've heard that this doesn't hurt but I am not really wanting to be awake for this. We're looking into if the anesthesiologist is in network or out and how much it cost if he/she is out. I have already met the insurance deductible for the year so if he/she is in network we're using it!

Third, many of you have asked how I am feeling about this. I left the emotion out of the first email on purpose. In a lot of ways, I am such a transparent person and others I am so reserved it's scary. I don't really know what brings out what but for some reason in the first email, I chose to not show any. I like to present a strong face but I am weak. If I recall, I was teary eyed when I wrote the other email. :-) Welcome to the wonderful world of Casey Davis. I am scared. James asked of what exactly (him and his logical thinking- he sure does keep my feet on the ground). I am scared of all of it, the procedure, the pain, healing, bleeding. It's a complex feeling though. At the exact same time, I KNOW God has me in His hands and pressed up against HIS heart keeping me safe, whatever it is that safe looks like for me. His will and plan are better then any idea I could ever create in my head. So, I am thankful for my salvation and that I have Truth to hold dear and near to my heart to get me through this. He keeps James strong and grounded for me. He is here supporting me and loving me through this. He encourages and reminds me that the result of my past do not effect his feelings towards me or his love for me. I am thankful each and every day for the husband God has blessed me with... as well as all of you!

Thank you so much again for everything. Please keep praying. I will never pretend that I don't need them.

I love all of you,

Casey

Northwood Hills Elementary

I love my job.

I love my kids.

I have great parents.

I love my team (new & old).

I love my entire staff.

I love my boss.

I love my district.

How did I get so blessed?

Doctors are STUPID... no really, they are!

Don't get me wrong. They are smart. I couldn't make it through medical school but I have something very typical right now and I was even good and went to the doctor sooner rather then later like normally. I was totally trying to PREVENT bronchitis, was give FOUR types of medicine and my cough has progressed to worse and is probably bronchitis now. HORRID. The day I went in, I didn't get to actually see MY Doctor. I was sick, couldn't talk, and my throat was really hurting and I was told they had NOTHING that day but the earliest was at 2:15 the next day. Freaking no way was what I was thinking.... well honestly.... I was probably thinking something is many many curse words I really wanted to yell at the woman on the phone, but since I was standing in front of 22 kindergartners I felt it would be better not to- and I had no voice and couldn't. haha. Anyway, I questioned her and basically was like "You seriously don't have ANYTHING before 2:15 tomorrow? How do y'all not leave "last minute" spots open in the day for emergency visits? And so on... She then all of a sudden was like, "Oh, I have one for 9am tomorrow?" Okay, now I am really not a happy camper... I have an IT person in my room telling me I have to remove stuff to get Microsoft 07, I can't teach my kids because I can't talk (which by the way, they were really good for being out of routine and me not being able to talk), and I couldn't get an appointment for the day and I already called a sub to come in early... SERIOUSLY?!? And I asked the receptionist now, if someone cancels can I please be on a list to get moved up?!?! And I she acted as if that was a silly question or something. WTF!?!? She asked if I want the 9am appointment and I say yes and me being in probably one of the worst moods of the year, asked AGAIN... can you please call me if anyone cancels..... she said I yes... I had little hope with that happening. 30 minutes later I got a phone call and was at the doctors within the house. Praise His name... again, I did not see my doctor. I saw the nurse practitioner or something. She prescribed me an inhaler, a nasal spray, an allergy medicine, and an antibiotic... THEY ALL SUCKS. My cough is just as bad and worse. I am going to have to go back again.... STUPID DOCTORS. I hope this time I get to see MY doctor and he can give me some real medicine. :-)

Kiddos

James is going to be a good dad. He was never around kids growing up. He's an only child. Has 1 cousin that is much older and he wasn't around him much, 1 cousin his age, and 1 cousin that is like 11 or something- so way younger then him. He is in the business world so no kids there. Then he met me. I worked in the Preschool at church, taught kindergarten, worked as a day camp counselor, and babysit some- oh and my best friend and roommate prior to marriage has a son who is 5 1/2 now. Over the last couple of years, as he has been exposed more and more- he grows softer and softer, in a wonderful way. He came to my classroom 2 weeks ago and he did such a great job. He "learned" how to do calendar- the kids taught him, he did marker boards with them and read a story. They were so excited and so engaged. When he got up to leave, he told them "how proud he was of them for their hard work" and gave then high 5's. I of course raced across the room to be ready with the antibacterial lotion because I figured he'd be grossed out by the germs but he hadn't even thought of it. He still put some on since I had it out. :-) We have also been babysitting a couple of little girls 4 & 6... he does so well with them too. I am just excited for when the Lord does put it in our hearts to start the next stage of family! We're not ready yet and we are both very happy where we are but 3 instead of 2 will be good too! :-) (Maybe we'll jump from 2 to 4- I ask God for twins in prayers from time to time when I think about... When we do decide to have kids... NOT NOW!!! LOL)

Insurance, Deductible, HSA Spending Accounts and unGodly amounts of money

So, I went to the doctor today, upon the advice of many. I wasn't told anything new... all viral, nothing can be done.... blah blah blah. :-) The nurse practitioner was really nice though. She gave me drugs that would make me feel better and not like crap so that I can function at work. Praise the Lord for her! :-) Let's pray it all actually works and I get my voice back, my throat stops hurting, and I can go a night without coughing! :-)
So anyway- to the subject. I am on James' insurance. Sometimes I wonder if this was a good decision. We decided to take me off RISD's BlueCross/BlueShield plan because I had co pays and had bills being sent to me because they didn't cover this or cover that... whatever. James' company pays 100%. Or at least this is what we thought. James doesn't go to the doctor and when he does it is always just preventative. So, yes, 100% of that IS covered. Then there is me. I go to the doctor multiple times a year because I work in a germ infested building with kiddos (I still love my job!), I get sick anyway, regardless of those germs I am exposed to, I wear glasses/contacts, I like my teeth so I get them cleaned, and I go to the OB/GYN regularly... and now 4x a year regular. I get stupid amounts of test run on various body parts. They usually come back negative but in the mean time cost us horrible amounts of money. We have an HSA Account so it doesn't feel like it take a part of our budget. It's money that is taken out of James' paycheck pretax. But it's still our money. Today, I went to pick up my 2 prescriptions and it cost me $0. I was like wow, we met our deductible. SWEET! No more out of pocket... at least not till January. :-) But this means we've spent at least $2500 so far on MY health. (James hasn't been to the doc.) I got on our HSA website and looked it up... it shows, year to date, that we've actually spent more then $3000 ....I don't know a lot about health insurance but it looks as if we're getting screwed... so now, I have to add to my list of things to do- Call BCBS! AHHHHH!!!! And they probably have some explanation for me that means something where they are right and we're not owed any money back... BLAH BLAH BLAH... I know "whatever" isn't an intelligent word but WHATEVER. It's money we save solely for the purpose of our health. If our deductible IS met, then this is a good thing. I go in on Wednesday for EXPENSIVE test and if we don't have to pay for any of it... GREAT! That is wonderful news. Anyway... health care is too expensive. No wonder a lot people don't go to the doctor, or if they do, they have to go into debt to pay it off... Or we pay for it twice... in taxes for those who get it for free... not very Godly of me, I know we are to provide for the less fortunate... and I we do that... but it's just frustrating. :-) So, anyway- unGodly amounts of money is spent on Doctors by the Davis'. :-)

It's been a while....

I don't even know what to write about, it's been such a long time. :-) I am actually opening up my blog to see what was last.... WOW... lots has happened and I guess not happened. I'll do a quick update...
We bought a boat. We went to Arkansas for our summer vacation for a week. I didn't get into my classroom untill our first official staff development day back to work... talk about some stress and an 80 hour work week. We had about 3 weeks of total work- no play, no time together. Praise the Lord that is OVER! I have a wonderful class! YEA. One the first day of school, I was told by a student I looked like Barbie. :-) She obviously wanted to be my favorite from day 1. lol. My team is amazing, my kids and parents are amazing, my school is amazing, and my boss is amazing as always. So no work complaints obviously. haha. I've been sick on and off. I don't think I've gotten back to 100% at all- I just have really good days and really bad days. :-) My principal made me team leader (disclaimer- in our school we're all leaders, it's just a go to person on each team basically!), I am the PTA Teacher rep which means I not only go to all the PTA Meetings, which we're required to go to anyway, but I go to the Board meetings. It's fun and a wonderful opportunity to really see what these women and men put into our school and how much they do and want to support the teachers and students. I also get to know more kids. I've been praised at work for my work with such depth and meaning that I feel really good about what I am doing. I've also been told I am seen as a leader and it would be good for me to work in other grades at some point so that I can move into roles such as IS or Counselor so that I can reach more then 22 each year. It all feels good and so scary at the same time. wow. That was a wonderful conversation but so heavy at the same time. I like babies. I've never been one to Ooooo over babies. I've always prefered 4 or 5 year olds to babies. Like within the last month, I've really just gone google when I see a baby. LOL. No, it's not baby fever yet. I do feel a bit closer though. I am really enjoying time with my husband and we would like to keep it that way for a while. I had yet another gyno appointment with bad news. I have to go in next week again, for the 3rd time to have bits and pieces of my insides pinched out for testing... which I might just point out cost us an arm and a leg each and every time.... all past test have shown negative results. Part of me kind of wishes it would so positive results so that we can cut it out and get it over with.... if thats how it even works.... whatever... So we're praying for Gods will in it and my friend Kate, whom I am very thankful for is taking me to my appointment so I don't have to go alone. James would go but I told him he didn't have to go. I am very comfortable with Kate taking me. :-) At home group, we have been sharing our testimonies. James and I are this week. I've been working on it a bit this weekend. I am excited and nervous to share. I am also thinking of posting it... but not sure if I will because family and friends read my blog. It gets dirty and honest and I am not sure I am ready to share ALL that with EVERYONE. lol. :-) Maybe an edited version... I don't know.
James and I have both been sick on and off all weekend. I'm in bed now. It's nice but it's the last thing I wanted to do today. I am really wanting to move our bedroom furniture around. I can't stand the way we have it now. It stinks. Not like smelly but like just sucks. Oh yeah- with James deciding not to go back to school (at the point anyway, it could always change) we are saving for a house. :-D www.ebby.com is fun. We will not seriously even begin looking until we have 30% of what we want to spend saved. :-) So, there's us in a nutshell. Maybe more exciting things will come soon. :-)

My School Website Bio

Our school has a website and the teachers get to write a bio about themselves... Last year I never did it because I didn't know what to write- that isn't going to happen this year... So, here is what I have so far... Please tell me what you think... I don't want to sound dumb! Potential & current parents read this thing! hehe.

Casey Davis
Kindergarten

Good day!
My name is Casey Davis and it is a pleasure and blessing to begin my third year of teaching kindergarten and second to be here at Northwood Hills. The loving, supportive family like atmosphere here at NHE comes from the teachers, parents and children. I just love it and look forward to each day of work!

I was born in Denton, TX and moved to Wichita Falls, TX in elementary school. I graduated December 2005 with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies (Early Childhood Education), certified general studies EC-4th grade and recently became certified in English as a Second Language. I also plan to become certified in a Gifted Talented program.

Last December (2007), I married my most fabulous husband, James Davis. He is a Texas A&M graduate and works as an IT Consultant. Together, we live here in north Dallas living life to the fullest child and pet free for a while! J

When we’re not working, we enjoy hanging out with friends, going to and serving at The Village Church, short traveling to visit family as well as long distance traveling (China, Jamaica, Mexico, and Las Vegas so far!), working out, Wii, watching movies, reading, and just living life serving our Lord, as He pleases.

I am looking forward to the 2008-2009 school year, my coworkers, the parents and most of all my new students! I have full faith and confidence that this will be the best year yet!

God Bless!!

You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them. ~Desmond Tutu

So, I've been writing a different blog, it's taking me a few days to finish and of course I am still pondering and praying about it all. So, in the mean time, I am going to write on another topic. I've done it before. I think it was for a college class but here and now, I am going to do it again because it is important to me.

My Granny: George Ann Haswell

She has been in my life since before the day I was born. As many of you know, my parents did not get married before I came along. They dated for a while and stuff (you can determine the stuff for yourself). So, somewhere in the beginning of my life, they, my parents decided to live together to raise me. They picked out a house and bought it together in Corinth, TX. It was close to their work and close enough to my granny and other family members. So, through the years I many hours, days, and weeks at Granny & Gramps' house. In the 4th grade we moved to Wichita Falls, TX. Hard move for me but I would like to say I got through it alright. It brought me to where I am now and I am pretty dang happy with that. My parents would take lots of time driving my sister and I down to Duncanville to see my granny- spend the day, a weekend, a week or more- however long she would put up with us. In the 7th grade Gramps went on home to be with Jesus. So, it was just Granny and Hope (her little dog that thought she was human!). We still continued to visit all the same.

Through my life, Granny and I have always had this special connection. She's always gotten me. She's been there for me, encouraged me, supported me, and disciplined me... and she took me to church while in town. Even living 2 hours away, I could get a phone call from Granny and she'd ask me, "Casey, is everything okay? I just had this feeling..." and most of the time, I was upset about something. She always just knew.

By the way, my Granny's Chocolate Chip Cookies trump your granny's chochips! I just had to throw that one in there- I know anyone in my family will stand behind me if you wanna take it outside. hehe. :-)

She is the center of our family. No one dare mess with her, or you're going to hear about it from someone if not everyone... not that she needs anyone to stand up for her- she's been around over a quarter of a century, has seen 2 husbands go to Jesus, raised 3 sons and help with 2 step daughters, be there for 4 grandsons, and 9 granddaughters... there is more, I guess I shall continue- 2 double step grandsons their wives and their kids, 1 great granddaughter with 2 more on the way (not from me- remember I'm EPT -). :-) My point- she can stand up for herself and she does.

At some point in college, I got caught up with myself. I didn't call her or go see her as much. As you will see in another blog I am working on, I'm selfish. Shortly after I moved down this way, I moved into an apt in Lewisville. My friend was over one morning, I decided not to take a subjob that day- praise His name- because my mom called. I answered, not wanting to for only the Lord knows why, and my mom told me dad was leaving work, stopping by the house only to get a sandwich to eat on the way to the hospital... Hospital?!!? WHY!?! Granny had a heart attack. She was in pain that morning and had called her friend Virgina to come get her and take her to the hospital because she was scared that if she called an ambulance they would let Hope out and she didn't want to have to worry about her dog while she was laying in the hospital bed. So, I left and turned a 45 minute drive probably into a 25 minute drive- I dared any officer to pull me over and see what happens. Virgina had Grannys cell phone and called my uncle Randy, who in turn called a few of the family members, my dad and their brother Lin. Everyone was on their way from Houston, Marshall, & Wichita Falls. Once I arrived at the hospital I got her phone called my 2 aunts Muriel and her family in Norman,OK- they're on their way now, and my cousin Lindsey who lives right there in Duncanville- I couldn't get a hold of her mom bc she was at work but I knew Lindsey would know how and did. Within a few hours, we were all there. Just waiting. I think Dad got there before anyone- he of course was talking to doctors and finding out everything he could. He can be pretty good at taking charge- and I think he feels pretty comfortable in hospital situations (prob not his favorite when he's there for his own mom though!) Anyway, she came through surgery fine, sore, but fine and recovered. That was about 3 years ago. For a really long time she wasn't herself fully. She seemed weak and in pain, and sick a lot. This year she had another surgery, not on her heart, and is much better. I think she feels better then she has in a long time. Anyway, when she had her heart attack I promised myself I would be more intentional. I wasn't though. Even for the year that I lived with her, I wasn't intentional. I feel like I kind of took it for granted. Granny is close to ALL of her grandkids, blood and step. But the Lord put me in her home for a year. How lucky am I? And I wasted a lot of that time with her. I love her. I love her a lot. Last week, I went down there, Andrew and all, and spent part of the day with her. It was wonderful. And yesterday, she came up to see our apartment, hang out on the couch and do nothing but take and sit. James came home and we had dinner and hung out. Granny doesn't feel safe driving in the dark, so she left a little before 7- after most of the traffic and home before dark- this is when she would have liked to see me home while I was living with her- but I am not sure if that happened even once. lol- Home before dark- that was difficult. James and I watched a movie. It made me cry because an older woman died and it made me think of Granny. I am not ready to miss her yet. I haven't had my time with her. I am ready to not take her for granted. I love her and I want to be the granddaughter she has helped raise. Not a selfish one but one that is loving and kind and giving. Did you know that without even looking she can tell you anyones birthday/anniversary from memory. She may go check herself but I've never seen her get it wrong... and she remembers to send a card. She is smart. She is beautiful. She has lived life. We don't always see eye to eye on religion but she loves Jesus. She has supported me in all my endeavours. And I want to be there for her. I want to love her and support her. I want to spend more time. Gas and time are NO excuse for me not to get in the car and drive my butt down there. So, this is my promise to my Granny- I will be the granddaughter you have raised. I want to be better at my job. I love you.

“The only reason why we ask other people how their weekend was is so we can tell them about our own weekend.” -Chuck Palahniuk

Our weekend was fun and continuous. Here are some pictorial updates:

I had Friday off so my weekend began early. I started with the gym of course and then hung some things on the walls. Well, to tell the truth, I hung some things on Thursday but my opinionated husband didn't like my work, so I was re-hanging things. :-) This is what it takes sometimes to make sure things are straight on the wall. Then I met up with my friend Amy at Northpark for some light shopping and a chat but before I got there, I had to sit in traffic. Dallasites don't know how to drive. At least in Houston traffic everyone is trying to drive fast and no one is just going slow because they suck at driving...

Friday night we went to see Hancock and then to dinner at BJ's in Addison. We don't have any pictures of those activities.

Saturday we went to transform and I'm trying to get a friend that was there taking pictures for the church to send me a couple that he took of us! So, hopefully I'll be able to post that soon! :-)

Then on the way home, James had the boat bug and so we stopped at West Marine. Here's our purchase:

James pretending to be behind a boat on the water. Next summer baby, I promise!

I put it to good use and took a quick nap, I really did fall asleep!
Saturday night James and I babysat for a family, 2 little girls to be exact. They are smart, cute, and full of spunk! :-) It was fun!

On Sunday we tried to sleep in. This is a difficult task though because a couple of weeks ago our curtains started to fall down so we just took them down and haven't put them back up. It's bright in the AM. We went to Wally World and for some reason J was just super tired so he rested while I worked out and stuff. Then it was church time. It was an excellent sermon. I'll be blogging about that itself later on. Afshin is such a good speaker. The Lord uses him in wonderful ways. After church we went to dinner with Brent, Dan, Jordan, and D. Here's what dinner produced:

If I get WiiFit, will I be able to move like that Brent???

Moldy Garlic

YEEEEEEEAAAAH!!!!!!!

For the past month or so there has been this smell in my kitchen, which if you've been here means a nasty smell in my kitchen, dining room, and living room! Ugh! And I feel this smell was causing gnats to sworm our home. We have tried EVERYTHING to get rid of the smell and the soon to be dead stupid annoying flying things. I took every single thing off the counter scrubbed it, windexed it, and then used a lysol wipe to disinfect it. Put ALL the fruit away, so that non of it out in the open. I would run HOT water down the disposal with a lemon cleaner. We bought a gnat killer thingy from Lowes and burned about a million candles trying to mask the small. Anyway, finally Sara was over yesterday and I used my sniffer to sniff around again and it wasn't from the sink, the dishwasher, oven, stove, but finally I felt like I knew it was coming from a certain cabinet so I began pulling out spice after spice. A plastic ziploc back with 2 garlic cloves sealed shut but with an awful stinch. Apparently you shouldn't seal a bag with garlic in it. It holds moisture and creats mold that smells! It now has been trashed and the smell is gone! The gnats are diminishing!

YEEEEEEEAAAAH!!!!!!!

We're Ready... or at least we look like it!

The DAVIS DUET

BRING IT!

Since I've never played a day of soccer in my life and James hasn't played since elementary school we had NO soccer equiptment. So, here we are 100 bucks later ready for practice! As you can see we don't have our team shirts yet so we just threw on some black ones... oh and my tennis shoes look STUPID (I know super trivial but that's what flex spending is for in our budget!) so I am going to get some black and white ones. :-) That way if I totally make a fool of myself, I'll look good doing it! haha. Hope we have a photographer! :-P

James dressing for his close up.

He's falling as I am taking the picture.

The business-professional soccer player.

He's ready for INDOOR soccer!

I think I look like a soccer player...
Not really. lol.
Shin guards and everything... go ahead try and kick me!

Random 4th of July Weekend Pictures

These first ones are from a wedding on Friday, July 4th! :-)

















James with the groom, Kent!














These are from July 3- watching the Addison fireworks from the roof of our apartment parking garage with most of our home group!

My Celebrity Morph

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebs

I got this from Brandi's page! How funny! :-) Who creates these things?!?!

I Kissed a Girl...

Okay, so I must admit I like dumb songs. I like good ones too but the ones I get stuck on and want to repeat over and over and over on my ipod are really dumb ones. The current one is Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl." I totally am not into kissing girls, I love kissing my husband but I really like the beat and voice of this song! It totally just gets stuck in my head!

Anway- enjoy the song:

A Circle Has No End...

I have a friend, I would say one of the best friends I've ever had- and I've had some good ones. She has this love for the Lord, is fun, energetic, honest, goofy most of the time, but serious when it is needed. I love being around her and just talking to her. She is the reason, mostly, why I keep AT&T instead of going to Verizon, what my husband has. (I talk to her on the phone way more then him.) About a year ago, she had a friend, a guy friend, that started to become more then that. He is a great guy, in fact James and I love him! He pursued her and was always honest with her about his intentions for their relationship. A few months after they officially began dating, his job would require him to leave the country for a number of months. My friend, has never met someone she would even consider saying the "L" word with let alone say the "M" word. She had met her match- as we sat on our couch giggling about our boys, we were both dropping the words left and right! Of course at the time, I was engaged to be Married to the one I will Love forever! He requested for her to look at some rings! She was nervous but so excited. Her nerves true to form because, wow, they had only been dating for a couple of months. I would be scared too, hell, I had been dating James for almost a year and a half and I was nervous! hehe. :-) Anyway, time came for him to actually leave and she couldn't do it. Seven to eight months is a long time. Could she do it? Was he really the one? How would she know if he's gone this whole time and they get married pretty dang close to the time he got back? So, she ended things. It was difficult. Very sad. But freeing. As time went by she went on dates. No one caught her attention really. A few "maybes" but no one was worth it. She kept going back to him in her mind. And they started talking online.... on the phone.... and her heart strings were pulling at her. It's been him all along. The Lord used this time apart to confirm everything. He is the one! He feels it, she feels it. She gets those silly butterflies when he calls... she gets upset when he doesn't...not like mad but ya know! We've been praying for him and them together! He has requested us to help him. One of my request has been to take her ring shopping. My first thought is "I've never been ring shopping! James did it all on his own. I was freaking out because I thought he hadn't been and he had the dang ring for a month and a half before he even proposed because he didn't know how to stinking do it!" Anyway, Robbin's Brothers is by our house and so yesterday my friend and I ventured on over that way. She doesn't know what she wants, what to look for, or have a clue as to where to begin. On top of all that- she is nervous as can me, scared to even try a ring on her finger (her excuse the whole time was "I think it's too small, I'm scared it's going to get stuck!") Drew, our fabulous salesman (James and I both bought our rings from him) wouldn't have it. He demanded she put out her hand and slipped several rings on her finger trying to find one that was just "okay". Drew says, "Okay isn't forever." My friend and I have very different taste. We respect the others likes and it's funny how one ring looks so fabulous on one girls hand and so blah on anothers. Who knew?!? She found one that she likes... and that's it. Drew and boyfriend have to take it from there. She wants to know nothing else from this point forward. Which is exciting! I will get to see her and be with her through this whole process. She was so goofy in the store starting with pulling into the parking garage. "where do I go? I park here? Oh my gosh, I can't believe I am doing this?" Walking up 2 flights of stairs to the actual store, she's joking about passing out, running back to the car and leaving me there, ect... Like I said, she had a hard time putting a ring on her finger just to see. I loved it all. Drew did a good job of diffusing her and calming her down and making her feel okay about everything. So anyway, please pray for my friends. Pray for a safe return home for our friend overseas. For my friend here, her family, and just for God to continue to bless and show His way for her. And for them, together. That it all be sanctioned by Him and they do have many blessings! Or if they are not meant to be together that He end it RIGHT NOW! That it be as obvious as the nose on their faces that they should not pursue another day! I will keep you all updated! :-)

"step out of the car ms..."

This weekend James and I motored on down to the Woodlands. His dad, BJ, and step-mom, Beverly, live down there. James lead a training for his company, BJ was on his way back from a bike ride in Colorado- so Saturday it was just Beverly and me. It was a fun day. We sat around in the morning sipping coffee and just talking. Then it was scooter time! Beverly lives very close to her work so she drives a scooter to save gas- SMART! I think it would be great to have one. :-) So anyway, we took it to Market Street, a shopping center similar to the new one in Highland Village by the church. I am a finicky passenger so at first I was quite nervous about this motorcycle ride. hehe. Upon arriving at Market Street, our first stop was Anthropology. This is such a wonderful store. It was my first time in one- they are very proud of their stuff ($$$) but it is SOOO cute! I hit the sales room and found this fabulous white dress with POCKETS (this always brings a smile to my face). I officially made my first purchase in the store and signed up for a discount card thing that came in this cute little pouch I can use for other stuff. It was seriously the best find- and James loves it so that makes it all the better. :-) Beverly was looking for new bedding for the guest bedroom. Something taulie (spelling?!?) like in black and whitish. She found 2 things- one at Anthropology and the other at Pottery Barn. When I signed my credit card slip, my hand was shaking... at first I was kind of like whoa- my body must be reacting to the fact that I am spending $40 (sale price) on a dress and I was like my cheapness is getting BAD! Then I realized I'm not a freak, I am super hungry. So we ventured on to PF Changs- spring rolls and moo moo gu pan! yummy. About 2/3 through lunch- we hear this loud BOOM! It's pouring rain and thundering outside- great... we rode a stinking scooter out there, what now?!? lol. It's Houston though- so typical 10 minute pour and it was all over and steamy humid. :-) We looked at the time and had just enough to check out pottery barn and Dillard's for a return. Back to the scooter to drive across the street to the movie theater. The road was all wet and of course my nervousness came right back and I tried to pay it off though. We waited at the light and it turned yellow just as we actually got up to it- split decision- stop and chance sliding and falling? or gun and go for it- we're Davis's, of course we went for it. haha... the cop at the light didn't much care for that idea though. haha. He pulled in behind us and followed us around without his lights or motioning us to pull over somewhere at all. So we thought "maybe he is just cruising the shopping center!?!" Nope, Beverly pulls up to the movies to let me out to get the tickets and there he is "License and registration please." Keep in mind, this is my first time to just hang out with my mother-in-law by myself. So, I am so nervous for her and us and the whole situation. So, after scuffling away quickly and attempting to get tickets numerous times and different kiosk (who needs people when you can get a machine to do their job...) wondering why in the world the dang things won't take my American Express, I see the sign that says "AMERICAN EXPRESS USERS MUST PURCHASE TICKETS AT THE BOX OFFICE" Horrid- I have to talk to somebody. lol. So, I do it and am sitting and text James as little info as I can, just enough to make him interested and feel shocked, and Beverly walks up and says we have to return the tickets and the officer is going to give us a ride home... WHAT?!?! So, basically my mother-in-law and I were taken home in the back of a cop car... how embarrassing for all of us getting in and getting out. lol. The ride home was interesting, the situation was uncomfortable enough in itself so I thought I would make small talk with the sheriff. "Do you always have to that when you radio in?" "What are those blue things on your laptop?" "You're not from here are you? I can tell." "Can you pull up my information on your computer? Office: I have to have a reason. My response in my head: Well, aren't I an accomplice?" <--my filter kicked in on that one! "How long have you been in Texas" And so many more... And we were home before we knew it. He said he loved people from Dallas when they visit the Woodlands. They like people there. haha. Kind of awkward! lol. But now I know you are on the edge of your seat (or falling asleep lol) wondering why in the world we couldn't stay for our movie and had to be taken home by the police! Well, Beverly never got her motorcycle license and we weren't wearing helmets. He could have given like 2 or 3 different tickets but was nice enough not to because his daughter is a teacher and so he liked the fact that Bev and I were as well. We were so frazzled when we got home we each got out a beer and laughed! By the way, the movie we were going to see: Sex in the City. I've seen it once but Beverly had not and didn't want to suggest it in the beginning because it might be "too much." But I asked if she'd seen it and she said no, and so of course in true form I insisted we go see and it wouldn't be weird! lol. Since we didn't get to see the movie we got out season 1 of her 6 complete seasons (a wonderful gift from BJ!) and started watching! James came home asking all kinds of questions and we all went to load the scooter in the back of his truck and brought it home. :-) What a fun day! I had an absolute blast hanging out and getting to know Beverly! What a crazy story to tell our kids! "Remember the time the cops had to bring us home...." LOL. That was my 3rd ride in the back of a police cruiser.
If only we had pictures to prove it...

"Clean up on ISLE 7"

As many of you know James and I go to The Village Church and are part of a young marrieds group that meets on Wednesday nights. It was a rocky start for US in the beginning of the group. I think we had our expectations set too high- especially for a totally new group- not just new to us. So we sucked for a while, not going, going with a negative attitude, blah blah blah... James and the husband leader went to breakfast one day the Lord broke James' heart for the group. He came home with a whole new attitude... a good one. It took me a day or so to get on board with this idea of being positive- this was a new one for James and I- I am the positive one and he's the it's going to be bad one... again, it took me a while to swallow it down. :-) But I did and it taste good. I woke up and the Lord had just flipped my heart and I have it in me to pursue these women and men. There are 8 couples in our group and I look forward to getting to know so much! Our group is diligently working to do things to bring us closer together and getting to know one another on many different levels. People are trying to get together throughout the weeks, we are playing on an indoor soccer team, Isle 7 (I will speak of this in a minute), we will float the river in August, people are opening up their homes, ect... I am excited!!!

ISLE 7... this is the name we decided on last night to call or soccer team. Side note- I don't play soccer and never have a day in my life but I will now! We all sat around last night after eating, talking, and helping a couple prepare for their mission trip, and we tried to come up with a team name. Of course being true villagers, we started with The Village People, Villagites and so on... then animal names- Sea Cows, Octopuses, ect... Transformers, Dinosaurs, some Monty Python reference I didn't get but I laughed anyway, The Princess Brides things... you name it. Mason declared that NO ONE WAS LEAVING TILL WE CAME UP WITH A NAME... so we decided on The Toiletries! haha and on the back of our shirts we were going to put toiletries instead of our names... Cotton Balls, Q-Tips, Veet, Super Absorbent, Hair Spray, Depends, ect... Then we thought we should change it up just a little because these things were not really "toiletries"... The Medicine Cabinet? No... we came up with ISLE 7. Like in a grocery store. hehe. James is depends and I am E.P.T. and instead of a number on my back I'll just be a - sign (negative). There are some good names- I don't remember them all bc we threw out so many but it's funny and people are going to laugh- we sure did. I am curious to plug in my body bugg and see if all the laughing burned some extra calories... or if it's even enough to show up. Anyway, we'll be playing indoor soccer on Friday nights wearing black shirts with white writing... clean up on ISLE 7 please! ....wait- James says it's okay- he's wearing his depends.

Strawberry Cupcakes, Stadium Carrot Cake, Wii Boxing and such...

I made them wash their hands before decorating but you know what happens when little kids get frosting on their hands... the same thing as when an adult gets frosting on their hands.. hehe :-P I feel everything is safe to eat! :-) (Sara H.!)Theboys working on decorating! Carrot Cake for James- his favorite!

I made the ones with letters! One for all the girls.

Boys love playing on the WIi!

Jacob's Fictional Blogging:

(age 6)
Suinging on a chralin. Slids are piple. Piple are slids. Are we bugs? Do we have tvs?
(translation: Swinging on a trampoling. Slides are people. People are slides. Are we bugs? Do we have TVs?)


Andrew's Dictated Blogging:
(age 5)
I am going to sleep. I am driving a car. I am talking on the phone. I am typing something that I am going to school next year. I went to Jacob's house and I went to school.

Random Thoughts

Summer is a great time. Being a teacher I getting to take full advantage of the weather and summer time activites. For summer, I have agreed to take on a babysitting/nanny position working for my best friend Sara. So far, so good. She has a really flexible schedule so my schedule has become quite flexible as well. There are days I watch Andrew 10 hours and others I have him for 2 hours and some- none! :-) There are also a couple of weeks where I am watching a student that was in my class. Of all my students, this is the one that I came really close to approaching his mom to see if she needed summer care for him. I think there are only 2 weeks though that she does. So, life this summer has been fun. I nannied for a family last summer and it just wasn't what I felt like a summer should be and I just didn't enjoy my work.

Watching Andrew has some benefits. He's a really good, smart kid and can be taken pretty much anywhere. He is respectful and he knows his place a child and not an adult. Sara has taken really good care of him and taught him well. So, with him, I can make plans with other people- friends, co-workers, family, ect... It's nice. I would never take advantage and fully just do that but once a week or so it's awesome.

Marriage- nice.... difficult. Two becoming one... two very different, stubborn people becoming one... that's a concept. lol. James and I have had our ups and downs. I know all is for the glory of God. But man, some days it's like WHAT ARE WE THINKING?!?! lol. We are both crap at times. We love (I mean we hate but we do it all the time!) to jab at one another. I am horrible at forgivness and I don't apoligze the way that works for him and vise versa. I bought a book, The Five Languages of Apology: How to Experience Healing in All Your Relationships by Gary Chapman. I've read a whole part of a chapter so far but I think it will be good for me. :-) I also bought a Song of Songs devo for James and I. I like it because it's not like a daily thing where you feel guilty if you didn't do it- it's just whenever but do it as much as you can kind of thing. :-) I've been reading The Time Traveler's Wife. This is an execellent book to ready for pure enjoyment. I am almost finished with it. There is a movie coming out in December and I am excited to see what they do with it. Yea! Now if only they would make a movie from Redeeming Love! :-)
This summer James and I are going on a light, week long vacation to Arkansas. His mom has a timeshare that she is not using this year so she has offerred it to us. It will be nice to get out of town right before I go back to work. We don't have to pay for the lodging- just our food and anything we do or rent. James and I have become such penny pinchers that we don't want to go on any vacation or go do some things because "it just cost so much." lol. I guess we'll just have lots of money when it comes time to retire. hehe. But I think we are going to rent a boat one day (the palce is on Lake Hamilton), get a massage/go to bathhouse row, eat some good food and look at some pottery James likes a lot. We can have up to 4 others there with us- we just don't know who to ask to go with us?!? I know one couple we would love to have there can't go.. dumb internships get in the way! hehe ;-)
Our apartment has come a long way. I have sucked it up at getting pictures posted- sorry- guess you'll just have to come over and hang out some time! hehe. :-)
Anyway- back to watching Iron Man (the cartoon) with Jacob! Hope you're having a blessed week!

The Many Faces of Sabra

Hi all!
I know all 3 of you have been waiting on toes for my latest blog. I don't have much to say right now but I did create a kind of funny blog about a good friend of mine from back home! Her name is Sabra! She's a good and loyal friend and I am blessed to have her in my life. :-)