Thursday, April 15, 2010

Tim

I just found out that my friend Tim died a little while ago. He came to school, collapsed in class, and never came back to us. Word is spreading around campus. Right now I just want to curl up in a ball and cry my heart out. Tim was one of those people God put on earth to show the rest of us how to persevere with happiness and willingness to serve others. So many hard and sad things happened to him and he never gave up. He never let anything get him down or steal his happiness. He just found a way to overcome, keep progress, and always find the silver lining. He was a wonderful man. I am going to miss him, his smile, and his words of encouragement. Everyone needs a Tim to touch their lives. I'm glad I had one.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Quick Year in Review

So it has been almost a full year since I wrote last. Wow! Does time ever fly! This has been one crazy year. So much has happened that there is just not enough time to write it all down, thank goodness, because I really do not even want to have to relive any of it. Just a few things to mention, though - both of my grandfathers died in 2009; i had major surgery that knocked me flat for over a month, taking out the best part of my gardening time; I finished my Associates of Science in Biology, then turned around and sent all the children to school so I could "go to school" - now I'm working on my Bachelor's Degree; this means I'm no longer homeschooling (which at times is sadder than I can handle and so I just cry); we ended the year by going on our first family vacation, we went to Disney World in Florida; then started the year by buying the land around us, the rest of the quarter, now we have 163 acres (my heart is so full with this that I can't help by cry I'm so happy!!!): but then my health took a turn for the worst and I ended up in the hospital the middle of January and have been hit and miss ever since. I was diagnosed with Crones and now we are just trying to get it all figured out. The silver lining here is that I've lost 23 pounds. Well, that's my life this past year in a nut shell. It was a lot to handle but I'm on my way up and forward.

I feel like I've come full circle. Here I am again right where I left off. Nothing much has really changed. Instead, the desires and dreams I had before have just become deeper. This year I decided to change the old saying "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" to "What you don't give up on makes you stronger" because so many times I have just wanted to give up, not die, just be done with what I was doing. Instead, I have hung in there and low and behold I am feeling stronger. That's what I'm focusing on this year - Not giving up! I've already had some set backs in the little and big things in my life, but I'm up for the challenge and ready to give it all I've got. It's gonna be a fun ride.