Sharing our Life

Those born and bred East Texans may not think much of this, but this Northern girl (born and bred in Nebraska) isn't used to all the 'nature' that comes a calling in our yard and house. I absolutely hate snakes. I've seen two - one I had the pleasure of whacking with a piece of wood in the yard! The other slithered away before I could get anything to whack it (sorry PETA). Here are the remains of the first: Then we've had the pleasure of lizards up the wazoo (I'm sure that's not a word, but . . .). Here's a sampling of those: This little fellow above comes a crawling every night on the window in the family room. The dog loves it! Now these little critters apparently feel welcome inside the house! I don't really go for that. The first one below is one that was caught in my bathroom and released into the wild. The 2nd one didn't make it and had a burial at sea (if you know what I mean!). He was just a little guy too, notice there is no ta...

I'm taking just a brief moment from my cleaning frenzy (David's boss is coming over for supper tonight, so I tend to clean a little more for someone else than I do for just us!). I thought I'd post these pictures - for those of you with small children who complain about helping, you can say at least you aren't at the Cleveland house! Here's the 3 kids scrubbing sticky stuff from the floor before I get ready to mop!

I am a phone-aphobic (is that a word??). I absolutely hate making or taking phone calls (I don't mind taking phone calls from people I know, so you can keep calling). Even if it's someone I know well, I'd rather email them or call when I know I can leave a message. I think it stems from my people pleaser mentality. Even if I know you, I don't want to bother you as you might be in the middle of doing something! You'd think after a good many years working in customer service having to take and make probably 100 calls a day, it wouldn't bother me - maybe that's why - I'm all phoned out! I just wanted to share that thought as I just made a phone call to someone that although I've met, I don't know well. I did it as I don't think my emails are going through! The good news is - I left a message :) And earlier today, I emailed for a service request for something rather than calling - gotta love email! So, if I email you rather than call, now you...

One more thing! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD!!! CELBRATING 57 YEARS TOGETHER!!! (I'm sure they'll appreciate me posting this picture!!)

I mentioned in a previous post that I have one older brother, David (same as my husband). He married a gal named Laurie (which is what my whole family calls me). So, sometimes it gets a little confusing. We've always said to our parents it would be easier for them to remember as they got older - they'd never have to learn a new name! They have 3 boys (all very smart - hopefully our kids will be the same!) who are older than our kids (we got started late). The oldest is a sophomore at the University of Nebraska, the middle is a senior in high school and the youngest is in 8th grade. On David's side of the family (my husband that is, not my brother), he has a twin brother and a younger sister. Between the 2 of them, there are 5 nieces, 1 nephew, and a great nephew. One of the nieces is serving over in Iraq and the rest all live in Michigan. So, there's a little more about the Cleveland Clan.

This is an email I got from another gal. I don't know these people, but feel a sense of helplessness for them. I thought I'd pass along their prayer request. Dear Friends, As we write this email, our hearts are breaking, and we have spent several days shedding many tears. We are experiencing deep sorrow; we have many questions; and we never imagined we would find ourselves in this position. Most of you know that Christina is pregnant with our 2nd child, and we just found out this week it is a girl. Christina has been very sick for the last 8-9 weeks, and we appreciate all the prayers you have offered on her behalf. After several doctor appointments and tests, a trusted conclusive...

So, David finally figures out I'm the one (hello - what took you so long?)! David is a very, how can I say it, outspoken personality. I'm not sure that too much would cause him any shock or embarrassment. So, once I knew for sure he was going to ask me to marry him, I was a little nervous as I really don't like attention drawn to me. So, David came up with a very elaborate plan! Like I mentioned in previous posts, I traveled quite a bit for my job. So, I thought nothing of it when my boss (which is now a different boss, but still a great guy) asked me to go to San Antonio TX for a conference. Now, I'm a very trusting kind of gal - you tell me something and I take it at face value. So, I didn't even question that I thought it was unusual that this conference was on a Saturday. And if it was only a one day conference and got done on Saturday, why wasn't I flying home until Sunday? And, why did my boss not really have an agenda for the meeting? He asked me to go an...

So, I've never given it much thought before, but somebody in our small group tonight said how she was a role model for her children, especially her girls. Me, a role model?? She went on to simply say how she was portraying to her girls what a mother is/should be. Wow - I got to thinking, what kind of role am I portraying to my girls. If I am a role model, then my girls will grow up thinking that a mother should: 1) Watch TV 2) Play on the computer 3) Yell 4) Generally think of herself first Ouch - it hurt to think of what I'm portraying to my children. I'm not presenting a very good picture of what a Godly mother should be. I'm also not painting a very good picture of what a Godly wife should be. Some things I need to really work on and pray about!

So, as I mentioned previously there were some slight detours in my relationship with David. The first one being right after he said it was OK to consider us 'officially dating'. Within a day or two he regretted the decision. He talked with a really good friend who told him to basically make a commitment to not see me for 6 weeks (I'm very good friends with this person today, but at the time I could have strangled her). So, he thought that was a good idea and told me about it. I, of course, was not thrilled with the idea, but went along with it. It wasn't a battle I was going to pick. After about 1 week of not seeing each other, we decided it would be OK to have lunch together every now and then. After all, it's not like we'd be alone - it was in a cafeteria where lots of other people ate! After about 2 weeks, he decided he didn't want to do that anymore, so we started to see each other on a regular basis. So much for sticking to the 6 weeks! Another detour w...

Trying to stick to my new rule (not written in stone yet) of not being on the computer quite so much, but I wanted to just blog very quickly about the movie we saw last night, Fireproof. It's put out by the same church that made Facing The Giants (excellent movie) and Flywheel (I'm assuming an excellent movie, but I haven't seen that one). Anyway, it will be in the theaters in September and I'd highly recommend attending. We are hoping to go again just to boost the opening weekend sales. To read up on it and see more information, please go here (sorry I can't figure out how to put a link in) - EDIT - I figured out the link - finally!!!

So, I've been playing way too much on the blog today. Time to get some other things done! I'm looking forward to going out with my hubby tonight - so I better get to some other things!

So, March of 1993 came around. I ended up attending Topeka Bible Church (the church my friends attended). The singles group at the church had a couple of different Bible studies during the week and I decided it was time I start attending one. I had met another gal who was from Nebraska, so I decided to attend that one since there was somewhat of a connection. Well, who was leadng the Bible study? You guessed it, David Cleveland. I was immediately attracted to him. Of course, he was not immediately attracted to me (I had to work really hard at that). But, there was some type of connection. We figured out that we worked in the same building, we exchanged phone numbers and we may have even had lunch at work in the first 3-4 weeks (I can't really remember for sure!). However, the first time he asked me to come to his apartment, I was thrilled! Was it a date? Probably not - it was just 2 people spending a little time together to get to know each other. And besides, can you co...

So, being new, the blog is a little boring (I need some help to add some features!). However, I thought I'd give it a shot to upload some pictures. So, if this works, you'll see some pictures from the first day of school! If it doesn't, then you'll just have to be blessed seeing the words!! :) All three kids posing for the first day of school. Jaelyn working hard on her preschool stuff (you know coloring and tracing!) Jessica practicing her handwriting. Jaelyn showing me how she hurt her finger working so hard. Who knew that coloring and tracing could be so tough on your non-writing hand!! :) Eric is actually working hard on math. I think it's his favorite subject.

I'm amazed that my 5 year old can read amazingly well without really any teaching from me. He's been able to read for over a year (obviously when I was teaching Jessica he was paying attention). However, I am equally amazed that we had a conversation like this this morning: Me: What is this a picture of? Eric: A fish. Me: What is the vowel sound that goes with fish? Eric: Uh, f? Me: Eric, we just went over the vowels, is ‘f’ a vowel? Eric: No. Me: What is the vowel sound? Eric: Uh, ‘sh’? Me: Heavy sigh, head bent, thinking what in the world is going on!! Eric, how do you spell fish? Eric: F- I – H – S. Me: I was fine with the spelling since he got the F-I correct. So, I said YES! F-I! Eric, what is the vowel sound? Eric: Uh, it’s not ‘e’. Me: Arms up in the air. I finally excused him and said when he was ready to think a little and work with me, he could come back! So, about 10 minutes later, he came back and we basically went over the same stuff as above, b...

So, I left it off that my most favorite boss in the world moved to Topeka, Kansas. On his last day, I half-joking said "If there's an opening, give me a call". He left in July 1993 and in September of 1993, he gave me a call to let me know there was an opening. I left to go fo the interview. It was the hardest thing I ever had to consider - move away from Lincoln. My parents were sad and I am a people pleaser, so I try not to do anything to make people sad or mad. As I left for the interview, my dad was crying - I don't know about you, but to see your dad cry is just a gut wrenching thing for me! The interview went well and I stayed a couple of days with my boss and his family to get a feel for the town. I told him, that I didn't know if I could move. I know you can't live for your parents, but they have done so much for me that the thought of hurting them by moving was very difficult for me. I think the turning point was when I got back to Lincoln and...

So, I will follow the lead of some other bloggers that I read and quote my darling 4 year old: Jaelyn: Mommy, why do you never have to work? Mommy: What am I doing right now (as I'm folding the laundry)? Jaelyn: Nothing. Mommy: I'm folding clothes, isn't that work? Jaelyn: That's not work! I'll remind her of this conversation when she starts to fold the laundry!

So, just in case any of my new friends find this blog, let me share a little about me. It would be way too much for one post, so at least I'll be able to keep it going for a few days. I was born and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska. I did all the normal things kids did - mostly played outside with friends. So nice as compared to today where you're scared (at least I am) to let the kids out of your sight, let alone cross the street and go down the block by themselves. I have one older brother (name happens to be David, just like my husband). My parents are the most amazing people you'd ever want to have as parents. They are generous with everything, love us unconditionally and would do anything for their kids and grandkids. The family on my mom's side is very close - my cousins are more like sisters, their kids are like nieces and nephews rather than 2nd cousins. For the most part, they all still live in Nebraska within 45 minutes of the extended family. I was very act...

I should have had a contest going with a prize to the first person who found me and left a comment. But, no such luck, Aimee - sorry :). Maybe I can watch the kids on Friday - will that work?! I'm mighty impressed that I was found quickly. Now I'll just need to figure out how to make it pretty and interesting!

Now if anyone would just read the blog!! So, if anyone happens by, I would just like to pass along a prayer request. When we moved from Omaha to Kansas several years ago, we made a choice (not really our choice, but the house wouldn't sell), to rent our house. It has been sucking money from us ever since :( The tenants we've had for the last 3 years moved at the end of April and we have the house on the market to sell or rent (whichever happens first). We'd prefer a sale - we want to get rid of the money pit. We are tired of 2 mortgages and just want to either get some income via a rental to offset the mortgage (we've never made any money on it) or sell it so we don't have to mess with this again. The good news about all of this is that God provided David a wonderful job here in East Texas that not only he loves, but financially it provides enough to make 2 mortgage payments without killing us completely (we just hope no one gets sick, no new clothes for a while and...

So, I am one of those folks who like to live through the lives of others. I am a 'blog stalker'. I'm pretty sure my life is too hum drum to post anything of real value. I might do a day-to-day account of my life for family and friends in Nebraska, Kansas, and Michigan. However, I don't have any pearls of wisdom or insight like the many blogs I 'stalk'. So, we'll see if anyone sees this blog and how long it takes! If someone actually reads it and makes a comment, I might try to do this. I don't know though - I spend way too much time on the computer anyway! Let me know!