A Reason, A Season, and A Lifetime

Lately I've been doing a lot of thinking. I remember a quote I found in high school....some people come into our lives for a reason, and teach us valuable lessons about our selves. some people come into our lives for a season, and after serving their purpose fade out like the winter snow...some people come into our lives for a lifetime and forever change you and will always be there for you.

I used to think of myself as a pretty good judge of character. I always looked for the good in people and looked past the things that some of my friends did, because I knew that they would still do anything for me. 2 years ago, I started the search of who I am...I had realized that after finishing playing basketball, after finishing school, and after starting work that I had never taken the time to find out what I actually enjoyed doing in life. In doing so, I realized that some one I had known my entire life, was no longer there for me like i thought she should be and that her friendship was more important to me, then mine was to her. It was like being punched in the gut. I realized that it wasn't the first time it had happened and that too often I had put my faith in those who had continuously let me down. I would bend over backwards for my friends, but only a few of them would do the same for me. ...through the whole wedding process..I found out who my real friends were, I found out that some of the people in my life that I thought would support me let me down...and I found out that no matter who comes in and out of your life....some people will always be there for you to make up for all those who haven't been.......I told my husband today that I was really hurt by the fact that I had formed a connection with a few people in Tyler...and was hoping that they would be supportive and show their excitement for me and my upcoming wedding...but they never said anything....it made me sad to see how excited they were for other couples who were getting married and couples who were having babies...and not once did they express that attitude to me......He shared with me a statement that helped me more then he probably knows...."i'm sorry that they hurt you, but just think how awesome our family is and how much they love us and are there for us".... My family has just doubled in size after getting married in August, I have even more incredible people to love and get to know. Throughout the past 2 or 3 years, I've lost some of those reason and season people in my life.....but look at what I have gained!!!! I've always felt blessed to have my parents in my life..and now i have 2 sets of them..Joshua's parents are absolutely precious and I feel so blessed to be able to have 2 sources of wisdom on this earth. As much as this year has been one of celebration and change....the end of the year has been one of reflection...figuring who i am as a Mrs.....learning more about what I have to offer to others, and realizing it's okay to let people go...especially if it's their time...they served their purpose in your life..and if they're supposed to be one of those lifetime people....God will send them back in some way....

I am a Married Woman!!!!

I find it amazing what God can do in a year. (if we just let Him) The people He has blessed me with, the changes that come about, the newness that He continues to help you see. I would have never dreamed that I would meet my prince charming last year, but wednesday will be one year since God thought it was right for me to meet my husband. I'm not sure if I would ever describe myself as being conventional, but I completely put my trust in God and let Him guide my path. I let go of all the petty things, and focused on Him, my health, and giving back to others as much as I could.

2010 was a year of growth for me...i finally found where i belong in God's hands...and I was able to rededicate my life to Christ by becoming baptized. I ran my first 10K MudRun and survived!!! I was able to experience many thing in East Texas with my MOH, EB. I was able to meet some incredible patients at work, and the one prayer that I've prayed for the longest was finally answered. I met my Joshua. We never know who it is God has for us....we never know when He will bring them into our lives, but I can truly say that He is faithful...and His word is true.

I HAVE A HUSBAND!!! I still can't get over that. I have someone to love, someone to laugh with, someone to look at and beam with pride knowing that he is mine. God truly knew what we both needed and He brought us together. I am so thankful for this precious gift. We're still learning how to live with one another (as we both have been very independent for a looong time), but I have a feeling that all the pieces will fall together eventually as they always have.

I want to say thank you to all my family who has prayed for me for so long. For my friends who continuously stood by me....and for your love.

We never know what is going to happen in life, but just think...in less then one year...you can have a completely new life (if you let God lead you to it)

Love

There are many different kinds of love. I must admit that I use this word often. Some people say they save it for those people in their lives that they truly love. I on the other hand use it to describe life in general. I believe that hanging around with people from England has allowed me to pick up the term "love" when greating someone or addressing them "hi love", "okay love"....a term of endearment i guess one might call it, mainly used with my patients. When i get really excited about things I will often say "i love this"...love as described towards people in my life comes at a whole different level. The love I have for my family is something that goes beyond love, my very essence comes from that love. A love that holds things together, a love that is constantly being refilled and overflowing, a love that never stops giving...this is where i've developed my passion for love and loving. Yes, without God being the foundation of my family, I don't believe that my life would be the way it is. I don't believe i know how to do anything part way. It's pretty much all or nothing with me.

I find it very interesting that most peoples deepest desire is simply to be loved. They go searching for it in so many different places, hoping to find it, hoping to grasp it, hoping to taste just a little bit of it. Looking in every place they can think of, only to come up empty handed. Real love, true love is a gift. It can't be found anywhere that a human can look, but a gift from up above. I gave up looking a long time ago, knowing that God would bring the man into my life who will be my match to my love. He told me a long time ago, "wait on me...I'm getting him ready for you..but you must be strong and wait on me." God knows what qualities will complete me, he knows what characteristics will make my heart sing. For me to go looking for something that is not mine to find, is unreasonable to me. Why should I search for someone that God is preparing for me? If he was ready for me, then God would have brought him into my life already. Why is it so often we end up getting in our own way? Finding those things we think we enjoy, but realizing we're just settling for something that doesn't fulfill us the way we think we should. What if the man that God is preparing for me is ready, but God's still working on me? How am I limiting my life from allowing God to work His wonders? Why have I tried to be in the driver seat when I have absolutely no idea where I'm driving towards? Why is it so hard to let go of the control I think I have on my life? Where did the carefree Renee go, who trusted God completely and would wait for years, fully content on whatever it was God had for her? It's easy to be that way when you keep your life busy. Filled with tasks, homework, sports, music, all the little things that can take up our time. What happened to just being content with silence? With the peacefulness that God has waiting for me. Going to go take some time and ponder this.....

A lil taste of Disney

So i got invited to go to Disney World with my sister-in-law's family and I had the most wonderful time! From Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, to Animal Kingdom, we definitely covered all of our basis. It was great to experience things through my niece and nephews eyes. To get excited, cause they got excited. To anticipate what things might scare them and how to get through a 5 minute ride without a meltdown on your lap. To realize that having a lil girl run towards you with her arms open can truly be one of the most touching actions a lil child can do. I even got to be "Aunty Nay" to another lil one (my brother's nephew), and he made it even more enjoyable. Here is a pic of Michael and I getting ready one morning

Jenny, Beau, and Morgan all decided that it would be a good idea for me to get my make-up done at this fancy place in Paris (Epcot).....i guess they're trying to turn me into a princess ;o)

Here is our group, the first night. Nothing like family lovin!

Rachel and I got to meet Chip at the "Not-So-Scary Halloween party....she was a lil scared to touch him

Baby Noah how i love him....."Can I wear your son?"

Daniel and I at the Magic Kingdom parade...he was looking at the 7 dwarfs
overall a truly amazing experience and i have some memories that I will treasure for a long time...."Danger is my cup of tea"~Kevin, "we need to go to Mexico!!!"~Kevin , "I've never gotten wet on Splash Mountain" ~Joe, "All Aboard!"~Rachel

Organization!

so i decided that instead of holding all my books from grad school in milk crates I would upgrade and purchase a cheap lil shelving unit and i am SOOOOO glad I did. I was looking for a way to get everything in that corner off of the floor and it turned out to be very successful.

the nice thing about having a lil puppy is that she always wants to help....

she really is hysterical sometimes, because she did this one all on her own..(she has a golf ball in her mouth)

and of course while it still had a book in it....

it's nice to know that i will always have a lil helper....she's a mess :o)

Cake, and Cars...well one car

Last week, we had this ridiculous thunderstorm, lightening every 2 seconds, thunder right on top of our apartment, and power outage for at least 3 hours..The next morning I took Punkin out for our morning routine...and this is what I found

big big tree

Poor, Poor Lexus (notice Punkin checking out the scene too at the bottom)

Insurance should cover that....right? ouch!

Pampered chef has all sorts of great stuff, for people who enjoy baking and cooking and all of that. (and who have the room to store it in their very small kitchen) Recently i purchased two 9 inch cake pans...and I decided that it was definitely time to try them out...anyone who knows me will say that if given the choice chocolate is always my favorite. Now dark chocolate fudge cake is just beyond words in my eyes :o) of course when you cover it with whipped milk chocolate frosting...mmmm...pure goodness!!!

I just had to taste a lil bit...if you look closely at the second picture....there are lil lip marks from me licking my cake....Don't worry, that was the first piece I ate :o)

so i've discovered that even though taking defensive driving online sounds really appealling....it is more a pain in my bum then anything. Didn't realize that it's mandatory for the class to take 6 hours no matter if you're there in person or online. So i have successfully completed 2 of the 6 sections....and it has worn me out! Seriously...i have noticed as i've been driving that i'm more aware of my surroundings, so at least i'm getting something out of it. Maybe it would have been better to just sign up on a saturday with free lunch. So hopefully i will be able to say that i have successfully completed my course (by next week)

We had an amazing thunderstorm last night. I haven't seen lightening come that quickly ever. I enjoyed the "fireworks" display and punkin enjoyed spending the rest of the night relaxing by candle light, since the power was out for 3 hours. People used to go to bed when the sun went down, so i felt right in with them. Of course being woken up by the firealarm coming back on at 11:45 at night and lights on is always pretty crazy...punkin looked at me from her crate when i came in to turn the lights off. The craziest thing though, I take punkin out this morning to do her business, and see a pine tree that had fallen on this guy's brand new lexus...definitely totaled. Might just have to post pics of that soon (still figuring it all out)