Jeffersonville Outlet Shopping Trip

This is weeks late but I've been so busy. If I don't blog about it now, then I never will. I had a WONDERFUL time. Our shopping trip was December 12 & 13. I was hoping to leave work at 4 so I could beat the traffic but I ended up staying until almost 5:15. As I was leaving(and stuck in traffic) I called Alicia Cook to tell her I was running late. She was so good! I was stressed and about to bust a blood vessel and she calmly said, It's okay. We'll meet you at Bob Evan's for dinner. There is no need to rush. Just those few words were enough to calm me down. You would almost think she's used to dealing with high stress situations (with her and her 6 kids!). Anyway, I got to Bob's and everyone was there. Melissa, Julie, My Hien, Kelly, Alicia, Jackie, Tara, Karen & Suzanne.

I have been blessed to be able to meet and get to know a lot of wonderful women because of this trip. Each year it seems like me, Kelly & Alicia have lots of stories to share but this year was different. It was great listening to the other women share.

There is only 1 thing better than sitting around a jacuzzi and talking with friends, that is sitting in a hotel room snacking & talking to those same friends.

The deal I got this year was for me. It was a coat from Wilson's leather. Julie & I shopped together on Saturday & stopped in there. I saw this coat and tried it on. She said it looked good. I have to admit, it does! Regularly $285, marked down to $129, I got it for $90!!

Our New Calling

Brother Cherrington called and scheduled an appointment to come to our house on the Wed before Thanksgiving. I didn't want to be released from my calling but you know how that goes... My biggest concern was being put in 1 of the 4, yes 4 nurserys in our ward. Well, he comes over and he's doing the getting to know you thing and releases me from my calling. He then springs the new calling on us.

WARD MISSIONARIES!!!!!

So, after staring at him with my mouth opened for a few seconds, I look at Brian, we both look at him and BUST OUT LAUGHING!!!! Yes, we laughed. That poor man. He comes to our house to do this spiritual thing and we laugh.

I tell him, you've got to be joking. I said, "Do you want to know what kind of missionary work we've done over the past 21 years?" And I was silent. I then said, "That's it. Nothing!". Brian then precedes to ask him if they prayed about it!

I'm laughing now as I'm writing this!!!

Poor Brother Cherrington, he's all serious and says, yes we did pray and we feel it what's you should do. Brian then says, we know why they sent you. "You're the new guy and you don't know us and they wanted to iniate you!" We told him we figured that when Brother Perry was released from the bishopric and Brian was still the Sunday School President, Brother Perry told him, "He's your problem now!" Poor Brother Cherrington. He's all serious and says, no we didn't discuss that.

Well Brian then says, "I was a ward missionary before". I say, "When? I don't remember" He said, "With Nathan Toronto." I said, "Oh yeah. You didn't do anything." Brian said, "Yep. That poor man". I then look at Brother Cherrington and told him that Nathan could become a serial killer and he would still be guaranteed to go to the Celestial kingdom because of having to deal with Brian! That brings out another round of laughter from me and Brian.

So finally we get it together and say okay, we accept. Well, Brother Cherrington high tailed it out of there and after we close the front door I called for Danessa. She was up in our computer room and I said guess what, "WARD MISSIONARY". She proceeds to bust out laughing and then there is another round of laughter. She said mom, that man probably hasn't made it to his car yet and he can hear us laughing!

So on Sunday, they released me from my calling and proceeded to call us to be WARD MISSIONARIES! I'm happy to report I didn't really laugh until after sacrament meeting when the people who knew us came up and laughed with us.

Thanksgiving

We were able to spend Thanksgiving with our good friends Craig and Kelly Arrowood. Brian, Danessa and I spent Thanksgiving with them last year when it was the 3 of us and it was nice. This year was just as good. Brian fried a turkey and Kelly baked one. We had all the fixins as well as plenty of desserts (my favorite!). Keith and Holly Simmons came over right before we ate so it was nice having my whole family together. Kelly took a picture of us and I took very pictures of the other family members. The great thing about them is we all sit around and complain about how much we ate,watched TV and nap! Just like being at home.



This is Craig cutting the oven turkey.

My happy family

Okay- I'm not stupid, just human

I feel better. I just needed to vent!!!

Why am I so stupid?

I'm so upset with myself now. You know, just when you think things are going okay then bam- something happens.

You know I have a hard time dealing with incompetence. Well, 1 thing that happens at work is my stupid boss (yes, I have a lot of respect for him) will ask me and a different assistant to do the same thing. Now, I'm suppose to be his assistant but the other lady (who's also stupid) will go ahead and do it. Now, I don't mind if she does it but I do get pissed if I do it also. What a stupid waste of resources, time etc...

Well something happened today where my boss sends then email to me and her (she should not be involved at all) asking us to schedule a meeting that I already scheduled. Well she did. Now I won't go into everything involved but I will tell you by adding her to the mix, things are very screwed up. I also don't want you to think, Tina, that's stupid. Why get so upset? And I will say, yes I know. I thought I had all of this under control. This may sound stupid but I feel like an alcholic who took a drink.

I have a sign in my cubicle that says, "I will not accept ownership for things beyond my control". I've done so good. I feel like I've taken a step backwards and I'm so upset with myself for getting so upset.

Oh well, I should remember my mantra, "If that's the worse that's ever happened, then I'd have a blessed life"

My Wonderful Saturday

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to have my whole family together for a few hours!

Keith called the house at 10am and said he was in Columbus and wanted to know if we wanted to get together for a late lunch. Him and his friend Travis traveled from New York to Columbus Friday night and got to Columbus around 6:30am. They went to Holly Simmons apartment to sleep for a few hours. The 3 of them came to the house around 12:30.

Last Saturday Danessa came home to drop off her car so Brian could do some work on it. She drove my car back to UC and came back Saturday to swap cars. Before we had a chance to tell them that the other was coming Danessa showed up! It was a neat reunion.




We all went to lunch and then hung around the house for a few hours. Keith and Travis told us stories about stuff that happened in Iraq. Keith and his gang left to visit friends and Danessa left around 9pm (after doing laundry!). Before everyone left I told them we needed a family picture. Holly Simmons was so gracious to try to capture our perfect loving moments!






What a wonderful day!

The Spirit

I just received a call from a friend of mine who was a part of our ward some years ago. When she was here we use to go jogging together. We put in a lot of miles together and really got to know each other. She moved to Kansas and unfortunately, we kind of lost touch.

She called me today because she was thinking about me and couldn't get me out of her mind. She wanted to know if I was okay.

What a blessing that as members of the true church we are taught about spiritual promptings. It is a blessing that we are taught to recognize these promptings and to act on them. I think of the many Relief Society lessons I've heard over the years about acting on the promptings of the spirit that I never truly took to heart.


I'm thankful for a Heavenly Father who loves me and for friends who listen to the spirit and call me.

Thank you Sherlyn.

Tag- 7 Interesting Things About Myself

I decided to take this challenge from Kelly and like her, I'm trying to come up with stuff. Hopefully this is okay.

1. I am very loyal. Once you are a friend, I will fight to the death to defend you. If you aren't, well....

2. I'm very emotional. Alot of you don't see this side of me because I try to hide it but I'm a big baby. When my family and I are watching a movie and something sad happens they always look over at me to see if I'm crying!! Heck, I cried last night while I was laying in bed waiting to go to sleep!

3. I'm actually quite shy. It is very hard for me to go up to someone and make the first move of friendship. Once someone does, I latch onto them! I'm good at projecting a ton of confidence that I don't feel.

4. I fiercely believe in the gospel. Even though I'm wishy washy about attending all of the meetings all the time! I believe that if it wasn't for the gospel, I would not have the family I have today.

5. I love to bake. When I was a stay at home mom, I use to bake cookies, pies (homemade crust!), cakes etc... People always knew I had something to eat if they came over. Now, I basically bake cookies and if I make a pie, either Danessa makes the crust or I buy one. Most of the time I have cookies in my cookie jar.

6. I'm dependable. Even when things are going crappy in my life, if I make a committment to someone, I always follow through.

7. I have a lot of trouble adjusting to change. I love things being organized and if it changes and I get out of my comfort zone, I have a hard time dealing with it.

Church Diva

The funniest thing happened on Saturday night. We had our adult session of stake conference at our new building. (that's not the funny part, you'll have to be patient). The previous Sunday President Cook asked me if I would be willing to give the opening prayer. Being a good Mormon I said yes even though I wasn't planning on attending because Brian and I were going to a friends' house to paintball! (Still not the funny part)

Anyway...

We arrive Saturday night and because I had Brian turn down the wrong street, we ended up being later than we wanted. We had to sit in the nose bleed section. I look at the bulletin and it says that Teri Smith from the Scioto Ward was giving the opening prayer. I show it to Brian and I said do you think they made a mistake? We started talking and if it said Teri Smith from Westland we could understand the mistake but from Scioto? Especially since President Cook asked me to give the prayer after our sacrament meeting. So I said, I don't know what to do. The opening song starts and I said maybe what I can do is start to walk towards the front and if Teri gets up then I'll turn and go out the side like I'm going to go to the restroom. So the song ends and I slowly get up and start walking. I don't see anyone up there so I walk faster. Now on the long walk up to the front I have people turning around looking at me with mean looks on their faces like, "She should already be up there". So I smile, get to the microphone and say, "I'm Tina Smith with the Westland Ward. I thought I was suppose to give the prayer but I wasn't sure if there was a Teri Smith from the Scioto ward. That's why I waited to see if Teri would stand up. Sorry." So people laugh and I bow my head and say the prayer.

THAT'S THE FUNNY PART!

I get to my seat and ask Brian if he thought it was rude and he said, hmm, probably not. So after the session ends brother and sister Campbell from the Scoioto Ward come up to me and say, "It's nice to meet you Teri Smith. Welcome to our ward!" So we laugh and from there other people came up to me and started talking to me and laughing. Now I figured we would hang around for a few to talk to people and wait for the traffic to clear out but we ended up staying almost a half hour talking to people. Brian finally gets my attention and says, "Come on church diva, let's leave!" I'm like what? and then Cris Altman walks out with us and Brian says to him, did you see my diva in there with all her fans!

I guess one thing people will remember from the conference session is Tina Smith from the Westland Ward gave the opening prayer!

Our Trip

I've been busy trying to play catch up at work and haven't had time to actually write. The trip was great. The weather was beautiful for the drive on Thursday. It took us 10 hrs because of wonderful Ohio and our orange barrels. Here's a few pics of the the scenery.


I called the Army 24hr line Friday morning to find out if Keith was on the roster for the flight that was suppose to come in. We aren't given that information until 12 hrs before they're due to arrive. They said yes so we prepared to head to the base. Keith also called us at 10am to let us know they landed. The welcome home ceremony was at a gym on the base. We were told to be there 2 hrs in advance and we thought things would be crazy like they were when we went to his graduation at Ft. Benning so we left even earlier. On the way out of the hotel we met a woman who works at the base who designated herself the official welcome home hugger. She hugs the soldiers that don't have anyone waiting for them when they arrive. I was kind of surprised by that and really impressed that someone gives so unselfishly of their time to do that for strangers.

Things went smoother than we figured so we arrive 2 1/2 hrs early! We walked around and here are some pictures of the cars in the parking lot.


We arrived at the gym and I'm thinking, "This isn't going to be big enough". Well, unfortunately it was. Brian estimated there were a little over 300 people in the gym. We could've arrived 5 minutes in advance and got a seat. That is so sad. I did a lot of crying over the weekend. I cried thinking about what it must feel like for the soldiers to come home and no one is there to greet them. It must be heartwrenching to see other soldiers and their families and not have anyone for you. I cried for the soldiers whose have family members could have come but chose not too. I also cried for the family members who wanted to be there but wasn't able. Yes, I cried alot!

The excitement level in the gym was at 150% and then they announced our soldiers were here. They arrived and came in and we were cheering and clapping and everything. Some people made signs. It was absolutely wonderful. Brian tooks pictures of the soldiers so people could get a perspective on how many there were.

Picture of Keith

Picture of us before the ceremony

The controlled chaos after they were dismissed

Keith and one of his squad leaders

And the 3 of us in the hotel room afterwards (Keith was trying to look tough)

Did I cry when I saw him? You bet! Did I hug him for a long time and he tried to break away and I wouldn't let him? You bet! Did I say to his squad leader, in a tear filled voice, "thanks for helping to keep him alive?" You bet!!! And you know what? I don't care. I was so greatful to Heavenly Father for keeping my little boy safe for me. I was totally overwelmed.

WE ARE SO TRULY BLESSED.

We'll be on our way tomorrow

This week has gone by so fast. I found a army website that gave me more information on when Keith is suppose to arrive. After looking at the website and talking to him yesterday, he is expected to be in New York on Friday for a 1:30pm welcome home ceremony.

I booked our hotel last week and was able to find out from the Family Resource Group person that we get a discount. So that will help alot with the finances. Keith called at 4:30am to talk to us for a few (He's in Kuwait) and then the army has it worked out that customs will go to the soldiers to check their bags. So Keith needed to get his stuff together.

I brought a new camera and I can't wait to take pictures. If the pictures turn out bad, then I will truly know it is operator error!!!

Talk to you soon.

Keith is returning to the States!!!!

Earlier this week I received a myspace message from Keith saying he is suppose to be back in the states sometime before October 25. Well, I didn't get my hopes up because of the military... Anyway, he sent another message yesterday saying he is completely done with his missions. I talked to him today and he said he will arrive in New York (that's where he will be stationed), October 23, 24 or 25! That's next week. Holy cow. So now I'm scrambling to find a way so we can be there when he gets off of the plane.

Brian and I will be driving 2 cars, Brian driving Keith's car and me driving one of our cars, so we can have a way to get back home. It will be a brutal trip because you know how much I love to sleep in the car. My goodness, I sleep on the way to UC! It's suppose to be about an 9 1/2 hour drive. Oh well, it is worth it.

More info to come.

Here's a picture of us when he was home in February.

Family

I am so truly blessed. Danessa came home from UC over the weekend. She had fun hanging out with her friends and then getting her hair done. The most important part is she decided to spend Sunday with us!!

Our cat Maria was so excited to see Danessa. We wondered how she would react because she is so "catish" and she really missed her alot. When Danessa came in the house, Maria was at the top of the stairs. Danessa said, come here baby, yes we call her baby sometimes, and Maria came. Not just walking slow like she has other things she'd rather do but fast. I swear, I think she actually jumped up into Danessa's arms (and she hates to be held). Saturday afternoon Danessa decided to take a quick nap and said, come on Maria, lets take a nap. She bolted into Danessa's room. Now she's moping around again.

We had a nice breakfast(you know my family life revolves around food)and went to church on Sunday. Instead of our usual after church nap, we just talked while she packed some warmer clothes and other things she was taking back with her. We both love watching the TV show Heroes and I've recorded all the eposides so we could watch them together. There is nothing better than watching TV without the commercials!! It was just awesome hanging out with her. When it came time to leave I was real proud of myself because I didn't cry until after she had left!!

I am so happy she chose to go to UC so she is close.

Happy Birthday Brian

Today my sweetie turns 45. He is doing something he really enjoys, he is skeet shooting! Since Keith moved out, Brian turned his room into "his personal" room. He started to collect knives,swords and guns. So if anyone breaks in, I will have all kinds of weapons to kill them with!

We're past the age of doing anything special. We are just happy to be alive!

We are all daughters of our Heavenly Father who loves us

Right now I feel so extremely blessed to be a member of the true church. We have a prophet that truly receives revelation for our time.

September's visiting teaching lesson is titled, The Gospel of Jesus Christ Teaches the Eternal Potential of the Children of God. The first question is, "What is My Eternal Potential?" Elder Russell M. Nelson says, "A woman's richest rewards will come as she rises to fulfill her destiny as a devoted daughter of God." We know what our destiny is as daughters of our Heavenly Father. We are to work on exaltation with our spouses and families. And if you aren't able to be married or have children in this life then we are still to work on exaltation. We want to someday be with our Heavenly Father and be queens in the kingdom.

The world tells us we are not fulfilling our "destiny" unless we are 5'7 and 110lbs. We are not fulfilling our destiny unless we either concentrate on having a career and not have children or that if we do have children, then we should leave them with day care because we don't want to be "just a mom" or "only a mom". The world says we shouldn't feel fulfilled until we acquire things. Look at how that is totally different then what we know is our true destiny.

There is an article published on September 28, 2008 in the Desert News titled, "LDS women encouraged to see depth of their own potential". President Dieter F. Uchtdorf says, "He understands that our splendid sisters sometimes undervalue their abilities- they focus on what is lacking or imperfect rather than what has been accomplished and who they really are"

He lets us know that Heavenly Father knows us and hears our prayers and knows how the world is constantly trying to knock us down. Don't you feel sad when you hear one of your children or a good friend say how they are either dumb, ugly, fat or whatever because they have been led to believe so? Imagine how Heavenly Father feels as we constantly put ourselves down!! Just as we see the beauty in those around us, He sees our beauty.

President Uchtdorf goes on to say:

As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you.

I challenge each and everyone of you to picture yourself the way Heavenly Father does and remember how truly special we really are.

Empty Nester

On Friday September 19 Brian and I became offical empty nesters. We helped Danessa to move into her dorm at the University of Cincinnati. Here are pictures of Danessa saying goodbye to Maria.




It still amazes me how light she packs. We moved her in with 4 boxes, 1 5x8 carpet, 1 plastic storage container with drawers and 1 suitcase. She felt she packed too much. Once we got there, she realized she was no where close to what others had packed. It only took us 2 trips and we didn't need any help from the students assigned to help. We got there and got her room unpacked and set up in 1 1/2 hrs! The only thing that was missing was pictures because she forgot her putty. We went to CVS and got putty and I helped her hang up her pictures. Here are some before and after pictures of her dorm room.


The beautiful purple quilt is a gift from her Young Women's leaders. They know how much she loves purple. She likes the song, "Come, Come Ye Saints" and she made a poster with the words to put up in her room. These posters are some of her favorite ones from Young Women's.

She went to the Singles Ward on Sunday September 28 and really enjoyed it. She got lost and was 1/2 hr late so she missed sacrament meeting (she waited in the foyer) and she went to Sunday School and Relief Society. I asked her how the members were and she said they are just as friendly as the ones in the Columbus singles ward. She said it is a lot smaller and the people seem older, there doesn't seem to be 18, 19 or 20 year olds. I am so grateful for the church and the fellowship she has been shown from the Columbus Singles ward and now the Cincinnati one.

Our Anniversary

On Saturday July 26, Brian and I was married 22 years ago. Where in the world did the time go? Even though he worked 2 OT shifts last week, he still took the time to buy me a wonderful card and a dozen roses. He has always been real thoughtful when it comes to cards. He takes the time to pick out nice ones, I grab the first one I see!!

From our National City Points program, I was able to get a $100 gift card to Ruth Chris's steak house. We went there for dinner and it was wonderful. We talked about the past and how we got to where we are today. It is so hard to believe that we will be empty nesters. It's exciting thinking about the next stage in our lives.

We believe we were destined to be together because of the way we met. How in the world would a guy from Cleveland, Ohio meet a girl from Sidney, Ohio in the town of Lima, Ohio!!! Has to be fate. I honestly believe that we knew each other in the pre-existance and made a pact to find each other. There is no one else I could've married that would've put up with me all of these years.

After Danessa was born, I went through a really bad postpartum depression. Unfortunately, it was not diagonosed. Looking back on it, I can not believe he stayed with me after the way I treated him. Can you imagine a 26 year old man who has this crazy wife who is yelling, crying, screaming and doing and saying things she never did before and you don't know why? And when you go to the doctor, they can't tell you why? Years later, he told me this was the only time in our lives that the thought of divorce ever crossed his mind. I'm so glad he stuck with me.

I credit the fact that we were sealed in the Seattle temple on October 8,1988 for all time and eternity and good ole fashion hard work as to the reason our relationship works.

Thanks Babe for a great 22 years. I look forward to the next 22 years!

University of Cincinnati Orientation

Brian and I went with Danessa for her UC orientation on July 17 & 18th. What an experience. I told Brian that I didn't feel old enough to have my baby going off to college until I saw the other parents. Imagine my surprise when I realized they looked as old as me and some parents looked younger!! What a humbling experience.

Orientation went well. From the beginning they seperated us from our student and we had parent "sessions" and they had student "sessions". The first day was boring because they went over stuff we already knew, you know the paperwork that the university sends to you! We didn't meet up with Danessa until after dinner when we checked into the dorm room. Brian and I stayed in a room and I told him I'm too old to live like this. College dorms are for the young! The building was clean, it's just that it's old. We actually stayed in the same dorm that Danessa will be living in. We met up later that night and gripped about the questions people asked (my family is so spiritual!)

The next day was the best. It was specific to our students' course of study. I learned more stuff about what Danessa will be doing and more about the Engineering co-opt program. Danessa has decided to do an international co-opt in Japan! She was able to test out of and receive 50 credits for the AP courses she took in high school. Stress to your kids the importance of taking harder classes, it will save you a lot of money. She was happy because she will not have to take any history and chemistry classes. She only has to take 1 english class that the university will not let anyone test out of. Her schedule this fall is, Introduction to Mechnical Engineering, Introduction to Japanese, Calcus 2 and Introduction to psychology. She's happy because she says she has an "easy" schedule.

One thing the school kept stressing to us parents is that our students are now adults and as such they have rights. We can't find out about their grades unless they sign a waiver and they will be making decisions on their own. As a matter of fact, the parents were not allowed to be with them when they scheduled their classes!

Danessa's so excited to start school. She moves in September 18th and the countdown is on (I'm not counting down though, I'll deal with it when it comes!!!). The university ward is only a few miles off campus and I feel blessed because I know she will have people there to greet her with open arms.

Task Force Summit Soldier of the Month

We received a picture and a nice letter from his command sergeant announcing to us that Keith was chosen as Soldier of the Month for June. They gave us a breakdown of what is evaluated in the individual soldier as well as his personal contributions to the team. They are:

- Personal Military Bearing, Physical fitness, and display of the Army Warrior Ethos
- Oral Expression and conversation skills
-Knowledge of world and local affairs and current events
-Awareness of military programs
-Duty Proficiency and overall soldier knowledge (Military Occupational Skills, Common Tasks and Basic soldier knowledge)
-Soldier's attitude and Army Values
-Leadership Attributes and Traits

He was selected above 6 other outstanding soldiers from within the Task Force. Isn't that neat? Keith broke it down for me and said he had to do:

- 1 minute of pushups
- 1 minute of sit ups
- 2.6 mile run
- Shoot 20 rounds down range from a kneeling position
- Take apart and put back together 4 different system weapons
- A 12 question quiz

As a reward he was able to personally meet and have lunch with comedian Dane Cook.

In additional, on his myspace page (that's how I communicate with him) he posted a picture of a medal he received for Excellence in Combat. He is not allowed to talk about his missions so I'm not quite sure what he did but he received it from a 4 star general. Finally, he posted a picture of him with General Petreaus. I showed the picture to Brian and he goes "oh my gosh, do you know how important this is?" Well, "no". Apparently this is the general who today is in the same catagory as General Norman "Stormin Norman" Schwarzhopf.


We are so blessed that he is okay and he is excelling in Iraq.

When Keith was a teenager, he made a lot of bad choices and got involved in drugs. We even had him checked into a inpatient rehab center. He did okay when he got home until he started hanging with the same people (one big thing they push is New Faces, New Places). We prayed and prayed he would get off the drugs and when he came to us for help with getting clean so he could go into the Army we were elated. We are blessed to have a good friend, Steve McGlaughlin, who lives in Athens out in the middle of nowhere, take him in and allow him to live with him. When Keith got clean and was able to make it into the Army, we were so happy. Even though I knew for certain he would be deployed to Iraq I knew we had our prayers answered. I had people ask me how I felt about him going into the Army and I told them, "I prayed for a long time that Keith would stop doing drugs and would get clean. Who am I to say, Heavenly Father, I wanted him off of drugs but not like that?" We know that our father in Heaven knows what's best for each of us.

My Baby is 18!!!

At 2:36pm on June 29, 1990, Brian and I were blessed to welcome a baby girl to our family. I wanted to name her Danessa Jacklyn and Brian wanted to name her Jacklyn Danessa. Well, we know who always wins after giving birth! Danessa decided she didn't want anything big for her birthday. We had a jello cake, she loves that cake and hot wings and just hung out. For the past 4 years, Youth Conference has always been held around her birthday so she celebrated it with her leaders and friends. This year it was on a Monday because they left for camp Wilson today.

I asked her if she felt any different and she said she does. She is thinking about the fact that this is the last Youth Conference for her and her friends. She also thought about one of the young women who shares a birthday with her. This is Marie Perry's first youth conference since she turned 14 on Sunday. Danessa said she felt really weird thinking that this is Marie's first Youth Conference and her last. She is definitely ready to move on from Young Womens. Her and the Laurels attended the singles ward before Memorial Day and even though it was really different (they told me sacrament meeting was spooky because it was so quiet), she really liked it. She is planning on attending the singles ward for the rest of the time she's here.

I'm so grateful for all of the church leaders she had throughout the years. They have been great examples to her of who she wants to be and also examples of who she doesn't want to be!! We've always had distance between us and our families and the church members have filled that gap for us. At her graduation party, she told me her theatre friends were surprised that church, not family members attended. It's because the church is our family.

Since we moved here from Lima, Ohio, Danessa has been blessed to have a core group of young ladies that became best friends. Other wards marvel at how close our young women are. I'm glad for the example and the friendship that they've offered each other over the years. I really believe this is the reason none of them have strayed off the path. Danessa had her friends over to spend the night on Wednesday and she said what they talked the most about was marriage!!

Remember, the years go by fast. Enjoy all of the little moments with your little ones. You'll never be able to get them back.

Here is a picture of my Sunday School class which includes her best friends, Erika Alpeter, Ashly Harrah, Valerie Gardner and Heather Simmons.

Just Another Day in Paradise

We found out on June 19th that our division of Ashland, Casting Solutions, will be entering in on a joint venture agreement with a company in the UK titled Sud Chemie. What this means is once this goes through, they're taking about late this year, early next, then we will no longer be a part of Ashland. The headquarters for the new company will be in the Netherlands. The majority of the people here in Casting Solutions have been a part of Ashland for over 20 years. We have several people who are only a year from retirement. Their challenge is to find another position within Ashland because if they stay with the new company, they will not be able to retire from Ashland. The only solution would be for Ashland to buy them out but then they would have the problem of trying to find another job. I really feel bad for them. You can imagine how much buzz is going on around here.

I'm fortunate because I've only been here 4 years so I don't have a lot invested. I'll continue working for many many many many more years before I can retire. It's weird because normally I stress about stuff (any stuff) but this time I'm not. I don't know what the Lord has planned for me but whatever it is, my goal is to stay worthy to enjoy the blessings!!!

Danessa's Graduation Cruise

Danessa decided she wanted to go on a cruise for her graduation instead of having a graduation party. We were happy because we love to go on cruises. We decided to bring one of her friends with us so she would have someone to hang out with besides us "old folks"!! We took her best friend Katie with us. We feel blessed that Danessa has such a great friend as Katie. She's not LDS but she has the same values that we do.

Here's several pictures of them- aren't they adorable?


We took a 5 day Eastern Caribbean to Grand Turk, Nassau and Half Moon Cay (a Carnival private island) in the Bahamas. While in Grand Turk it rained almost the whole time we were there but we still did some shopping and went to the beach for a hour.
The second island we went to Half Moon Cay, Carnival's island. Out of all the island's we have visited in the caribbean, this was the absolute best island we've seen. The day was beautiful, there are only 13 people who live on the island and they work for Carnival so they take care of the place. When we dock, the crew goes on shore to work for the guests. The sand was beautiful, the water was crystal clear. It was PARADISE!!! Here are are few pictures of the island and the last picture sums it up for me!

Brian and I have been to Nassau several times but each time we enjoy it. We snorkeled and had a good time.

Finally, what would a cruise be like without the formal pictures.

Brian's Angels

Our Family