When there is so much to write...what do you write???

Okay...

I guess the best thing to do is to do a quick update on what changes that have taken place. Note: not in order of occurance.

James & I took a big leap and bought a house in late October 2009. We invited my parents to live with us, which they have. It is a fantastic 5 bed, 3 full bath home with an open layout. We all love it. The two floors create a private get-away for each couple.

On the day we moved out, our female dog decided to give birth to an unannounced puppy. We named him Jack. He was adorable and we instantly fell in love. We kept him til he was 4 - 5 months old and then had a sad farewell, when my parents found him a new home.

James has been promoted to a Senior Data Analyst at Ernst & Young. He is an excellent employee with a great future. I'm really proud of him and all his effort to be good at what he does.

I quit my job!!! YEA!!!!!!!!! That took a great leap of faith that we would be able to make it without that set income. I had taken a break from work for medical reasons, and had a hard time going back. It was like a weight had been lifted off my back.

I am now selling Mary Kay Cosmentics. It has been a wonderful journey working for myself. The added income is really nice, and extemely helpful. I am hoping to build my business to the point of having that as my main source of income. I will be looking for something part time shortly to help suppliment our expenses.

We have had the wonderful opprotunity to spend time with our families. James & I went to Springfield to visit his side. All three of my sister-in-laws had babies within 3 months of eachother and had all of the baby blessings the same Sunday in their same ward congregation. It was wonderful to be apart of. I'm so glad that James got to be in the circle as each baby was blessed. What a blessing it is to have strong priesthood holders surrounding your families in the gospel!

James has traveled quite a bit for his work. Back when we bought our house, he spent 5 out of 8 weeks on the road...mainly in St. Louis. From that stint of travel, he earned 2 free round-trip tickets! A couple of weeks ago, he went to Detroit for training.

Last week, we had a fantastic time visiting my brother, his wife, and two daughters in Arizona. We had a great time! The desert is more flowerful and lush this year with all the rain they have gotten. It was nice to see the yellows, pinks, and purples on the cactus and brush. We were able to go to California for a couple of days to just play. We all did a day of service in order to get a free day at Disneyland. That was so much fun to have a day to play and have a good time together. James was able to meet my brother and his family for the first time. I was pleased to hear my sister-in-law say that she thought James & I are a good match and that she really likes him. That made me really happy! I have such wonderful neices - MyMy and LuLu. I wish they lived closer so I could spend more time with them. We had a great time making braclets, playing the Wii, holding hands as we went around Disneyland and went on the rides together. We were so glad that we made the trip and that Derrick's family was so gracious and good to us.

I am still worn out from our vacation and have been trying to take it easy, while James has jumped right back into work.

I am so grateful for family! For my loving husband, for my great parents, for my in-laws, sister-in-laws, and siblings, and all our neices and nephews. We love you all! And all our friends who let us into their lives, we are so grateful for you as well.