Happy Happy Birthday!!!!

Dear Jan, Jenn, Ry-ry and Ethan-

Happy happy birthday from all of us to you, we hope you had a great day, and all your dreams come true!!

Jan, Jenn, Ry-ry, and Ethan all share today (the 25th) as their birthday. April is SUCH a busy birthday month for us!! Not only are the four above April birthdays, but we also have Joe-joe, Alisha (Ry-ry's wife), and Melissa (Dave's wife). (I'm pretty sure there is at least one more, but I can't remember who right now. If it's you, and I forgot, SORRY!!)

Anyway, it's late and I'm uber tired, so I'm going to be now!

Later all!

Chelle

What to write about . . . .

Just so you're all aware, I don't like april fools day either. I didn't really want to do anything, but Steve really did, and he thought all y'all's responses were so funny!! He says the only reason you guys don't like April Fools is cause you all fell for it! I have to admit, I didn't think people would actually believe it. Go me!

As of this week, I have officially lost 37 pounds! Woo Hoo!!

Really, I can't think of anything to write about. Things are going well for us. I had my surgery, which went well. They found some endometriosis, which they removed, but I was still having a lot of pain. After talking to my Primary care dr. and my psychiatrist we (finally) decided to go back on Subutex. I have taken it before, with great success, but my Dr's were hesitant to put me back on it unless it was totally necessary (long story). Subutex is generally used to treat heroine addiction, but they've found recently that it very effective when treating chronic pain. Granted, most people who use it for heroine addiction treatment are on 3-4 times the amount I'm on. But I've found that a really small dose works really well for me. It's nice to not have to stress about being on narcotics, and the roller coaster ride they put you on. When I would miss a dose of the Lortab, I noticed it almost immediately. With the Subutex, I've missed one or even two days in a row before, and didn't even hardly notice. And I only have to take this once a day. What a blessing!! It's so nice to feel good again! Really, what a blessing!!

Speaking of blessings, my niece Emma said the cutest thing the other day! (Ems, I hope you aren't mad that I'm blogging about this, but I was just so impressed by it! It's totally stuck with me!) We went over to return Daniel's truck that we borrowed, and Daniel, Emma and Matthew were outside doing some yard work. I noticed Emma had a scratch on her face. It started on her cheek and went diagonally up past her eye and up in between her eyebrows. It really went RIGHT next to her eye. Almost scratching her tear duct. I asked her what happened, and she told me she fell into a bar. Daniel explained that they were doing some concrete work (I think) and they had rebar sticking out of the ground in a few places. Emma was running to the house, and tripped, falling straight into the rebar. If she had fallen even a centimeter to the side, she very well could have lost her eye. After Daniel told what happened, Emma turns to ma and says "It was such a blessing because it didn't hit my eye. I was so blessed." It was SO cute! It's just amazing how she recognized it! Even if she was told by someone, the fact that she knows and remembers that is just . . . just great. I told her that she was blessed like that because she was such a good girl. What a cutie!

ok, it's time for me to go to bed now. Again, sorry Ems if I stole your story! I was just very impressed with Emma!

ok, I can sleep easier tonight, cause I finally did a post! Yay me!!!

k, thats all. Later!

chelle

Don't be mad

Steve and I have some somewhat exciting news, although I'm sure some of you won't like it!

As some of you know, Steve and I have talked about Steve joining the military for some time, although it never felt quite right. We've talked to various people about it, and had many people give us their opinions, but ALAS! We finally had to make the decision ourselves. After much deliberation, we decided on the Air Force. We found that they have the shortest Basic Training, it being only 6 weeks, instead of 12 or 14. The position Steve has signed up for is Aircraft Electrical and Environmental System Apprentice. Steve has a good background for it since he's worked with electrical. The recruiter gave us a few options of bases that would be available to us for this specific training, they are Goodfellow AFB in Texas, Patrick AFB in Florida, or Andrews AFB in Camp Springs Maryland. Steve and I decided to sign with Andrews AFB, because Steve is familiar with Maryland, and it won't be quite so foreign as Texas or Florida. He's talked to a few of the members there that he knows from this mission, and Sister Rogers, one of Steve's favorite members there, offered to let us stay with her when Basic is done, until we find a place of our own.

Obviously, this is kind of a surprise to some of you. Really, this is a good option for us. It will give Steve the chance to finish college, and will get him started on the path to a new career. It also worked out nicely because our contract at the apartment we just moved into is up in July, and thats when Steve has to report to boot camp. Steve doesn't actually have to be there until Monday, August 9, and our contract is up on July 31, so we'll probably end up at Steve's parents house for a few weeks. I'm not sure where I'll go once he leaves for boot camp. Maybe I'll see if I can move back in with my parents or something. Or maybe the kids and I will get a little studio apartment or something. Those details haven't all been finalized.

I had my doubts about this, but it wasn't until we were actually signing that I really felt this was the proper course for us. Don't be too mad girls, it's only a 4 year tour, and the likelihood of Steve going to Iraq is slim. I would have told you this in person, but I felt you may need some time to digest it before you talked about it!