Aunt Wee

My kids love Aunt Wee! (Darin's sister. ) She is ready to hug and play. She gets little boys because she has three and buys the best little boy toys for Dalton. She was there from the time I went into labor with him and did not leave until the next morning after he was born. But I think she is really enjoying having little neices to shop for. She gets to buy girly presents now. She calls my girls "girly girls". I knew when she kept the kids this summer she would never take them in public with out their hair fixed and topped off with a bow. She was so excited with Brighton that she got to be in the room and she never left my side the entire time I was in labor. We are thankful to have an Aunt Wee in our lives. (But we need to make sure we get a picture soon of Aunt Wee and Dalton.)

The Hill Family

I can not think of a bigger example of God's grace and provision with out talking about Craig and Becca Hill. This family lives by and walks it out daily. Their testimony about how God has used them through adoption is an incredible one. They have gone from adopting two beautiful daughters to opening an adoption ministry. Becca with two of her friends run Charis adoption ministries. Becca has been a sweet friend of mine for the last couple of years. Her warm and giving personality draws people to her and she has so many friends. To me it is just a privilege to get to be one of them. She ran a dance studio last year and gave Brighton free lessons for a year when I could not afford them. I can't express how much that meant to us. Then last year when the church could not afford to pay Darin we had to make a quick decision about where we were going to live because the lease was up on our house. We knew God did not want us to get tied into another lease but we did not know where we were going to go.
I knew that Becca and her family were going to be spending the summer in Florida for business. I was praying about what Darin and I needed to do and Becca's mother (another dear sweet lady) called me because she had the idea of us house sitting Becca's house. This sweet family opened their home to us for the summer. The house was beautiful and without hesitation they let us invade their space for two months. It was such a testimony of God's provision. Craig told Darin not to worry about it because it was his duty as a brother in Christ to help take care of another brother in need. I really aspire to be that kind of a person and with faith like the Hill family has.

Everyone needs an Ellen in their life!

Everyone needs a person like Ellen in their lives. She is the most mature soft spoken wise woman I know. I sometimes wonder how she and I can be the same age because of her vast wisdom and patience. Ellen also has the most giving tender heart of anyone I have ever met. I was introduced to Ellen through Jenny a couple of years ago. They were roommates at nursing school at Baylor. When Stevie and Jenny got married I got to know Ellen and fell in love with her soft southern drawl and sweet spirit. Ellen has been a faithful customer of mine for almost 5 years and has become a dear friend. For some reason (God moment) Ellen and I were talking one night and she shared with me her own battle with depression a couple of years ago and how she had to get help. She was someone I needed to hear that from. Ellen seems to cool and confident and strong in her faith to me. She is not high strung and emotional like I can be. She gave me wonderful advice and encouraged me to go to the doctor. She gave me permission to admit that life was to much for me to handle with all of the changes and to get some help. She reminded me that it was not a lack of faith to need help and prayed for me. If Ellen had not taken the time to open up to me I would have never had the courage to go talk to my doctor and get help. Through Ellen's encouragement I found my footing and was able to start the journey to climbing out of the pit I had found myself in. Ellen is truly an angel God allowed into my life to give me a glimpse of his mercy and grace.

Sisters

These two girls are the sisters that I was not born with. If you told me I would have felt that way in Highschool about these girls I would have laughed. Jenny and I were not on the best terms. (Story back in another blog.) Erin was just her kid sister I saw at church. When my brother married Jenny I did not know I was getting more than just a sister-in-law that I could hope to one day be close to. I got two beautiful women in my life. Jenny has been there for me in every transition and heart ache I have had over the last few years. She has been with me for the birth of all of my kids, being my coach for the last two. This last transition she was still steadfast Jenny with a listening ear and encouraging spirit. I would never expect any less from her. That is why I love her so much. Erin has not only made me look great over the past few years keeping my hair slammin', but she has always worked with me when money was tight. Erin can make me laugh at any situation. If not at life then at myself. She loves me and is such a blessing in my life. Getting to be in Erin's wedding and part of all the festivities that lead up to it in October was the best thing for me this last fall. It gave me something to be excited about when life at the time had little for me to look forward too. It made me really feel apart of their them like family. Erin said I could be an official adopted sister and when Erin says something it is true! I could not imagine my life with out the Knight sisters. I love these girls so much!

My Teresa

I have blogged about this special lady in my life before. But I could not take time out this week to mention the people who helped get me through this last summer and fall without mentioning Teresa. I am not sure I could have walked this road with out my Teresa. She has always been my coach and my mentor but she went above and beyond for me. One day my mom and I had gotten into a fight while I was living there and I felt the world crashing down on me. I had no where to go, I felt like I was under constant surveillance and the pressure was too much. I felt I could not breath. My mother was stressed that we were there and I knew it and could not fix it. Understandably with her starting school in August and a family of five adding stress to ther house. This one day I felt completely unloved, and I was suffocating. I could not quit crying and could not get a grip. I called Teresa. I left the next day and spent the entire day with her. We did not talk Mary Kay, we talked life. She took me to her gym and we worked out. Then she took me to lunch and after that we walked to mall. When we went back to her house she gave me a ton of new clothes. Over the past two years Teresa has lost 75 lbs and I have inherited an entire new wardrobe every time she goes down a size. Since Madison has been born I have had clothes from size 16 all the way to size 10. She has the size 8 clothes waiting for me. From purses, to shoes she has outfitted my wardrobe. She has coached me on my weight loss and has been my cheerleader. Last year I broke records in Mary Kay. I did the Queen's Court of Sales finishing by selling the last $2,000 on the last two days of the Seminar year. I won my car a month early with my team and I doing over $10,000 in production wholesale that month. Part of my depression was going from being on top of the world knowing what I had accomplished to falling totally to the bottom and struggling emotionally to pass out my cards to women I met. Teresa never pushed me, never hassled me and never quit loving me while I took time off. She loved me where I was, while reminding me of who I was and all that I was becoming in the process. She validated how I was feeling without letting me wallow in self-pity. She reminded me that this too would pass and it was going to get better. She took time for me when I needed it. She let me verbally process when I needed to talk. Teresa speaks truth without judgement. I can not say where I would be with out Teresa. After we got settled in the new house and things were beginning to fall into place I told Teresa I was back and ready to work my business full time. She said OK and sounded excited. The following Tuesday I got a call and Teresa put back on her coaches hat a kicked me right out of the nest. She gave me a "talking to" that I was not wanting to hear. She challenged me and said if I was not ready to make this Mary Kay thing work and become a director by Seminar that I needed to go back to teaching. I was not being fair to Darin or my family. I knew she was right and she did not make me cry. She made me so mad I went out and sold $1000 that week. She sees my potential and encourages me to be better. One of Gods best gifts to me was Teresa Ceder.

I love this girl!

This week I am going to highlight some people that I am thankful for. Over the last few months I have had a tough time of adjustments. For the first time in my life I went into total shut down and pulled myself away from people. Darin knew something was terribly wrong when this happened because to be alone is the worst thing I could imagine. I need people around me. There were people that did not give up on me. So many that sent me notes and encouraged me. Now that I am back and feeling better than ever I want to thank some of the few that really went above and beyond showing God's Love to me and waited on me to pull through. Everyone needs a Heidi-Anna in their life! I will never forget the day this beautiful blue eyed lady walked into our New Braunfels training center. I quietly said to myself, "Boy, wish she was on my team." She was going to be a new adoptee like I was to this New Braunfels group. This one friendship God brought together. One night after a meeting, Heidi asked if she could come observe one of my classes. She wanted to take notes during one of my shows because she was so new to Mary Kay. I was thrilled that someone wanted my advice and so we scheduled a time. As it turns out this was the class that all of the women from church were doing for me. I discovered that night that Hedi has a true servants heart and my class went so much smoother because she stepped right in as my assistant and did things before I even asked her. But, the coolest thing was while I was shutting down the show my pastor's wife was talking with her and inviting her to church before I could even get around to it. A couple of weeks later Heidi-Anna and her family showed up. By the end of the service she had accepted Christ and has been a part of our church ever since. I love this business that starts out as lipsticks and ends up leading someone to the Lord. Over the months to follow Heidi-Anna and I began to become fast friends. She became my biggest cheerleader and encourager as I won my car and finished Queen's Court of Sales last year. She wanted to help in anyway that she could. Her girls kept my kids when I needed help even. The week I finished Queen's Court of Sales she had an envelope waiting for me that next week with "Congrats Queenie!" on the outside. Inside was a gift card for an hour long massage! Then when Darin and I had to move, Hedi-Anna and her husband were the first ones there that morning and the last ones to leave. I think she was just as excited as I was that my house was a street over from hers. Then in August when we found out we were moving to Kyle, she was one I had to break the news to. Even as I was going into to shut down over the move and lost contact with everyone I still got text messages from her. She checked in every week to let me know I was missed at the meetings and she was there. Hedi-Anna was a better friend to me over the last couple of months than I was to her. Last Tuesday I showed up at our New Braunfels meetings and did not tell her. I wanted to surprise her. Of course she was late to that meeting so I had to wait until afterwards to talk to her. She squealed, "I knew you would be back." Then she pulled out a present for me from her purse. "I've had this for you in my purse knowing one of these Tuesdays you would be back." It was a fancy new card holder for my desk. "This will be perfect for your new desk in your new office." Heidi-Anna's loyalty and giving heart has blessed my life. Love you girl!

Friday Top 10-What Moving Revealed to Me

1. My husband and I have completely different ways of doing everything! He is patient and has the frame of mind that it will all get done eventually. Me, I want it done yesterday. When my house is not in order I feel a sense of panic.
2. I realize that I am more of a control freak and want things done my way that I would like to admit. Moving brings that totally out of me.
3. Darin will not ask for help. It makes him so uncomfortable to put anyone out and ask them to help move. I think, "You have not because you ask not."
4. I realized that I could not move with out my family. My mom can stage a house to make the best use of space in every room. I owe my brothers so much help when they move someday. I am still a daddy's girl. He makes sure the washer and dryer are hooked up and everything is running. (Darin had to work on Saturday this last move.)
5. It is like the country song goes, "You Find Out Who Your Friends Are." When someone will help you move you are really finding out who will be there for you through thick and thin.
6. I realized we are not college kids anymore. In my mind I should be able to get it all done in a couple of hours on a Saturday and have it all set up by Sunday right? Yea, it is a lot different moving a two bedroom apartment than a family of 5!
7. We have too much stuff! You get less attached to your junk. Things you could not part with before. If you don't love it enough to pack it up, move it and unpack it you find things easier to part with. Plus if it has been in sotrage for 3 months you can part with it so much easier.
8. Uhuals cost way more money than they advertise. That $39.99 advertised on the side of the truck is a crock. How does it really go from $39.99 to $150?
9. One story houses are much easier to move into. We moved from our storage shed into a one story house and man it was nice.
10. Last but not least is...Movers may be expensive but I am not moving again with out paying packers and movers. They are worth every penny!

Thankful Thursday

Man I have so much to be thankful for but I only have a minute to blog, so I am just going to list them.
I am blessed because of:
1. My friends. Man it is good to be home and back in the town I grew up in. I have been welcomed back by so many friends and family.
2. Getting to celebrate Erin's wedding with her. I was honored to serve her on her wedding day and just be apart of it all. I don't have a sister and being with Jenny and Erin make me feel like I have two. Also, I loved getting to know Cara.
3. My NEW HOUSE! I love it, love it, love it! It is smaller than what I moved from but way nicer. I got it unpacked and moved in with pictures up and all in one week. My neighbors are a sweet retired couple that love the Lord. They brought us bread when we were moving in and invited us over for dinner.
4. This week was my first week back working Mary Kay full time and it looks like I will end up with a $1,000 week! My team is getting back in gear and we will get back on track to where we were this summer.
5. Darin's job. It is different this time around working for Whataburger. He loves it. He feels good and about it and it is a good income with advancement opportunities.
6. Dalton is having a fantastic year this year. He loves school, loves his teacher and is having a great year. He is reading well and doing great. I love that Nonna is on campus with him.
7. Friends that will speak truth even when it is hard to swallow. My director let me deal with life over these past few months and I got the call on Tuesday that got my head on and rear in gear. She loves me enough to not tell me what I don't want to hear but what I need to hear. She believes too much in me to let me fail. Even though I got off the phone mad at her I knew she was right. I was mad enough to go get back to work.
8. I lost 8 pounds in the last two weeks. 32 more to go before the summer. Teresa is also doing free coach for my diet as well.
9. I went back to my old MK meeting in New Braunfels. I have not been there since August and they welcomed me back with open arms. They had not taken my picture down and one of my friends had a gift for me she had been carrying around in her purse for 3 months knowing one day I would get to come back. I thought since moving I would try to find a new meeting in the Kyle area but none were like where I came from. So I went back and felt right at home. It is good to know you have been missed. I wanted to cry when I was there because I had missed that group so much.
10. I feel so blessed that the Lord knows our heart and fills those needs. Even the trivial ones of just being missed. He is faithful when we fall, he is just when we need it and his love is unconditional.