Goodbye 2011, Welcome 2012

I thought I would do a year in review. 2011 was a hard and challenging year.

January-April were pretty uneventful. It is like the up hill on a roller coaster, you know you have to go down eventually but enjoying the ride as long as it lasts.

May is when life slapped us upside the head. That is when our roller coaster life took its downs. Mother's day weekend we went up to Wenatchee, Washington to see my Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle, Aunt, and our cousin. Also we watched our first Apple Blossom parade. My Grandpa wasn't feeling too good, but that didn't keep me away. We came home and my dad pulled me aside that Sunday and told me that he was diagnosed with Prostate cancer. He told me that he was on the low end of it and that it was slow growing. He later told us that he was just gonna wait it out. The next week on may 17, I went into the emergency room after collapsing on my bed in extreme pain under my ribs. After three hours of tests and being poked and prodded the doctor told us that there was tumors covering my lungs and that I would need to been seen asap. That was at 2am, by 7am after dropping off the kids at my moms Joe and I were meeting with a cancer doctor. She informed me that if this was lung cancer I would already be in stage 4. That just hit like a ton of bricks. We immediately turned to prayer and asked people to pray. I was set up with lots of blood tests, CAT scans, and a biopsy. We found out on May 27th that I do not have lung cancer, I was diagnosed with a severe case Sarcoidosis. It is an auto immune disease that attacks the lungs. I was put on a heavy dose of Prednisone over the summer and got a clean bill of health in September.

June was very exciting and very painful all in a short period of time. After three years of hard work Joe graduated with his degree in Computer Aided Drafting and Manufacturing. I am so proud of him for sticking it out and finishing. I am glad I was well enough to watch him graduate! Two days later my grandpa moved in with Jesus. That hurt me deeply. Loosing him is one things I still struggle with. I love my gramps so much. He was an amazing man!

July was a high point. We traveled to Ohio to watch Joe's sister Melissa get married, and visited with his family. Then the kids and I headed to Georgia for a 10 day to visit our friends the Oberholtzers. I call Jhona my soul sister. Her and I grew closer when I found out about my health. She was willing to drop everything to come and take care of me if need be. We had such a wonderful tome together. I hope and pray her hubby get stationed out west so I can see them more often. I sure miss them.

August we left our church. It became very clear to us that we were having our heads filled. They believed every voice you heard in your head was from Christ. We were fooled into believing things that weren't Biblical. We always felt unattached and now know that the Lord was protecting us. When I got sick Joe and I went on our own personal spiritual journey. I learned who Jesus really is to me, and how he speaks to me. It was tough but a crisis of faith helped build me up stronger. We prayed about it and the Lord lead us to a wonderful church. We feel like we are where we belong. It reminds me of the church I grew up in. My son loves his youth group. It has been so good for us.

September we started our homeschooling adventure with Curtis. It has been so much fun! We have really been enjoying learning the eastern hemisphere. He has grown into such a lovely young man!

November we got serious about buying a house. At the end of the month we decided to get pre approved. We just feel like we need to get out of Molalla and make our dreams come true. We have out grown our current home. Joe is pretty stable at work and we were ready to make the grown up decision to get stability.

December 3 we met our realtor for a showing of a house. We prayed over Joe as the head of household, and asked the Holy Spirit to guide him and if this was the house for us that he let Joe know. When we got done. We all knew this was our home. Joe started packing that next day and took us to Home Depot to pick out paint colors. Joe decided that in January we look at two more houses and then make in offer on the one we looked at the begining of December. Well God had other plans. We got an email from our realtor on Dec 19th telling us that the house we loved and knew was ours was getting a lot of activity and word of making an offer were floating around. After a few hours of back and forth we decided to make and offer. We went under contract and the house is ours. We close the last week of January and move in the begining of February. It was the biggest leap of faith we have ever made. We finally are going to get stability. For the last 15 years Joe and I haven't lived in the same place longer then 4 years. Our new home has only had one other owner who lived there for 58 years. When we walk through the house we finally feel like we are at home. We feel like this house has been waiting for us. It is a peace that is indescribable. I have never seen Joe so excited about something. He is like a kid in a candy store.
After a rough year, ending it with so much joy that is going to spill over for years to come makes going the hard parts not so bad!

I am not sad to see 2011 go, I am so stinking excited about 2012. We will be moving into our forever house. I will be closer to family. A new season is upon us, and glad the last one has passed. Happy New Year. May you be blessed!!