Out on the Ocean Sailing

As of Saturday morning, me & 15 of my family will be boarding the Carnival Liberty setting sail for Ocho Rios Jamaica, Grand Cayman, & Roatan Honduras! I'll see you back here on Monday, June 8th!

Upper Classmen

First Day of School 2006-2007 Trevlyn was a Freshman & Beth was in 8th grade. Isn't it cute how they dressed alike? They didn't realize it until I took this picture! It was a good thing they were still in different schools then!

First Day of School 2007-2008 Trevlyn was a Sophmore & Beth was a freshman. This picture was taken as they were getting ready to walk down the steps to school. Can you tell they are embarrassed?

We don't have a 2008-2009 picture because they decided they were too old for me to be taking 1st day of school pictures! So sad...:(

What?? This is what my daughter said to me last night. She said "Mom, do you realize that as of today both of your children are officially upper classmen?"

No, I refuse to believe it! My babies are still my babies. It just seems like yesterday that they were born. I can still remember my pregnancies and their births in vivid detail. How could this be? Trevlyn will be a senior, and is turning 18 in November. Beth will be a junior, and just turned 16 in March.

Can we stop time? There are so many things that I wanted to do with them before they were grown. I still have so many things on my list. I know they aren't leaving and will probably still live with us while they are in college. (because I refuse to let them go off to college) Overprotective? MUCH!! However, I know things are going to be different. They are already making so many decisions on their own. I just want to say, please don't forget about your dear Mom & Dad! You still love us remember? We are cool too! You don't have to spend all your time with CHARLIE EMERT!!!!!

Charlie is a great young man, but both of my children would rather spend time with him than with us! I am a little jealous, can you tell? Really I would rather they spend time with him than with some of their school friends! I just miss them wanting to spend time with me.

I miss my babies!

Stress + Krista = Disaster

About this time last year my health problems started, and it was during a stressful time of my life too! I had a few problems with some friends, I quit working for my Dad, and then what happens...I start having major migraines! Okay, so stress is not my friend, and that is what the doctor said. Make sure you are getting at least 8 hours of sleep a night, eat properly (no skipping meals which I have a tendency to do), and remove stress from your life. Now just how do you do that? Remove stress from your life...if anyone has figured that out let me know!

I am looking forward to our vacation in 8 days! There are 16 of us going on a cruise. Ultimately that is a no stress situation, but leave it to me to make it stressful. Who else gets stressed out over making sure everything is packed, and that we have enough money to have a good time without overspending? AAARRRRGGGGHHHH Why can't anything just be simple in my mind? I think I am wired to make everything complicated! I don't intend to, it just happens. I start thinking of all the 'what if' factors. Like, 'what if' we can't fit all of our luggage in the vehicle? 'What if' we don't make it to the boat in time? 'What if' our passport cards don't get here before next Friday? Now Charlie knows my problem and has already made appropriate measures to ensure that none of these things will cause a problem. For instance, he made arrangements that we can put the luggage on top of the vehicle if the back isn't big enough. He wants to leave before 8pm, which should give us plenty of time to get to the port before 1pm the next day (it is a 12 hour drive). I checked with the cruise line, multiple times, and as long as we have our birth certificates and are leaving & returning to a US port than we don't even need our passports. Okay so everything is taken care of, right? NO, my mind just starts coming up with more potential 'what ifs'? I can't even let vacation be simple!

If Brendia is reading this she is probably rolling out of her chair laughing because she knows how OCD I am! I even made a packing spreadsheet to make sure I didn't forget anything. Guess What? I did, Brendia emailed me yesterday afternoon to tell me that I left off shaving cream! By the end of the week I would have been a woolly mammoth!

I need a mental vacation! Hopefully I will get one on Sunday. Our first day on the cruise is a day at sea! I can't wait. I have already told everyone that I am unavailable that entire day! I want to lay out in the sun or even just sleep in the room. Whatever it takes to relax, that is what I am doing!

Enough about vacation. Let's talk about my job. Most of you know that I started this job in December 2008. I work in a retail cell phone store in the mall. I do not work retail hours. I work Monday - Friday 8:30-5. I found out this week that my schedule is probably going to change. We are going to a new scheduling system that schedules everyone based on store needs and projected customer needs. Even though my job is not customer impacting, my job title is. I have a job title that doesn't relate to my actual job duties. The district manager is trying to get the back office sales support to be exempt from this new schedule but we don't know yet if this is going to be possible. There are 7 of us that do the same job in this district just in different stores. Our job was a trial thing and the other stores in the nation do not have a back office person. This could mean that I would have to work anytime that the store is open Sunday - Saturday pretty much 10am - 9pm. Of course Sundays are 12 - 6, but that still causes a problem. Then we were told that our job might even be phased out since the other stores do not have a position such as ours. Our position was created to increase efficiencies. We do most of the office management duties so the store manager can be on the sales floor increasing sales. If our district manager can't prove that we've increased efficiencies and sales are increased because of us then why do they need a back office person? The manager could go back to doing the paperwork before the store opens. They pay him a salary anyway, right?

So, Please pray for me and my job. I want the Lord's will. Charlie & I really need the second income to make our bills each month. While I would much rather be at home being a good housewife, the mountain that we've created must be crossed first. We have paid off a good amount of debt since I've been working but we still have more. I should know something for sure once I get back from vacation.

It makes me remember that God is in control. I AM NOT!! We are all in God's hands.

It happened again...

This past weekend our church held our annual minister's convention. It begins on Friday night, and goes through Sunday night. We always have a great time, but it is very tiring. The Friday night service is mostly singing, and just a short sermon. Saturday & Sunday we have 2 services each day. By the end of the Sunday night service we are all exhausted which gets me to the reason I am posting today.

Last night I became very sick during the service. Actually it happened at the very beginning of service. I started feeling dizzy, and then I felt almost like an explosion in my head. It felt like ants were crawling all over my head or a thousand needles. Then I couldn't feel my fingers or toes on my right side. I guess I could feel them, it just felt like needles or like they both went to sleep. I'm sure you all know how that feels. I sit there for a few minutes just trying to keep it together. I didn't want to lose it in front of 3000 people. My sister was sitting next to me and she began to realize something was wrong with me. Charlie was sitting on the rostrum with all the ministers but I tried to get his attention to let him know that I needed prayer! He saw me and looked at me funny. He later told me that he could tell something was wrong but he couldn't understand what I was saying. As I sit there I begin to feel nauseous then I felt like I had to go to the bathroom. I told my sister that I was going to try to get to the bathroom. She asked me if I wanted her to get Charlie. I think I said yes, but I'm not really sure. When I stood up I thought I was going to fall back down. I made my way past the people that were sitting on the pew and finally made it to the aisle. I didn't have far to walk to get out of the sanctuary but it felt like miles.

We made it to the bathroom without accident. I was barely walking, and I really felt like a drunk person. I was washing my hands and I heard Charlie in the hall asking where I was. I still couldn't feel my right foot or right hand. I walked out of the bathroom and when I saw him I started crying. He asked me what I wanted him to do, and all I could say was pray for me. I tried to tell him what was wrong but my words were slurring. He prayed for a long time, and I began to have feeling come back into my right side. I told him that I felt like I would be okay, and I wanted to go back into the church.

I sit through the remainder of the service trying to control my right side. I was involuntarily shaking, but only on that side. I held my arms crossed so that no one would notice or so I thought. Beth was on my left side and Brendia was on my right. At one point during the service Beth moved over and I almost fell. I didn't realize that I was leaning on her until then. I don't know how long the service lasted. I know that 2 preachers spoke but don't ask me what they spoke on because I have no idea. During the service I was talking quietly to myself. I just kept saying No, I will not be like ______ (another lady that has had seizures in our church), and No, I will no let this claim me! Later Brendia said that I was saying No, but that was it.

After the service was finally over, Charlie came down from the rostrum to get me. We were trying to get out of the church, but with over 3000 people it was difficult to do it quickly. There were also several people from all over the country that we really needed to tell bye because it will be months before we see them again. We made our way down the center aisle, and spoke to a couple of people. I talked to my brother from Florida and told him good bye. I sat down in a chair once while Charlie was talking to someone else. An older man that we know came by and spoke to Charlie and then to me. He walked on by me but then he came back. He told me that he felt like the Lord was going to heal my body, and that it was going to happen right then. I sat there for a couple more minutes and it was almost like a fog lifted off my head. Charlie quit talking and we walked on down the aisle. As we were walking down the aisle, Charlie's cousin walked up to me and hugged me. She also told me that she felt like the Lord was going to move for me. She said she hadn't ever prophesied to anyone before but she really felt like telling me that.

Several of my family stopped us to ask if I was okay. I told them I was feeling better and that we were going home. You see this is the same thing that happened to me last year and this is why I went to the neurologist. The doctor has diagnosed me with partial on-set seizures, but I refused to take the medication. I haven't had a "spell" since last July after the church elders anointed and prayed over me. My family was very worried about me. My daughter told me later that went I went out to the restroom that my face was white as a ghost. We made it home and I slept well last night without incident. For that I am grateful. I was afraid that once I went to sleep I would go into a full blown seizure but I didn't. I know that God was watching over me.

Today I am work. My right side is extremely sore. I feel like I've been lifting weights or something. I am a little dizzy today, but nothing that I can't handle. I am still believing in my miracle. I have Faith that God won't let me down. I will not let this take me over. Please pray for me and help me believe!

Coulter's Comfort

While we were staying at the ICU of the Dalton Hospital I noticed that a couple of ladies were delivering quilts. Being that I am a new quilter, I began to ask questions. My niece then told me that her daughter, my great-niece, had received one of the quilts. I then went up to the patient representative, Ashley, that was delivering the quilts, and asked where they came from. She told me the most heart wrenching story.

Coulter was not a crier. But one bad day at the clinic, after numerous procedures, he had enough. On the way home he began to cry. And he cried and he cried and he cried. This went on for hours. It broke my heart to see him so sad. I went to the psychologist at the clinic who suggested giving him a blanket to create a 'safe' place for him. He could hide under the blanket, make a tent, or make it a 'no ouchie' zone. What ever worked for him. Coulter loved teletubbies, so the next day we went to the store and got two yards of fabric. I made one blanket for Coulter and one for Annika. It did the trick. He loved the blanket! And, while he never slept with it at home, it went to the hospital a lot with us and on the way home he'd throw it over his head and sleep under it. It gave me a great sense of relief to have given him some comfort.

This child's Mom started a group of ladies in Georgia that makes and donates blankets to children who for whatever reason have to be in or at the hospital in honor of Coulter. I think this is an awesome outreach and a help to so many children. You can visit their website for more information.

Look for me

When we've been there ten thousand years, a million, maybe two, look for me for I will be there too! Lethia has been in Heaven now for 4 weeks and Loyd for 3. I wonder if it feels like just a day.

Mother's Day is coming up this weekend, and we had plans to go to Georgia to spend it with Lethia. We've not talked much about Mother's day since. I am trying not to push anything. I don't want to make an uncomfortable situation any more unbearable.

We've had a tradition on Mother's Day since the first year we were married. I was just pregnant with Trevlyn and not really even a Mom yet. There is a little restaurant in Chattanooga TN called Bea's that Charlie takes me to. I went there with my grandmother when I was little, and Charlie knew it was one of my favorite restaurants. After we moved to Knoxville we would still go down after church on Sunday and eat there. The last few years Charlie's Mom & Dad had met us there so we could spend Mother's Day with them and still celebrate our tradition. Charlie may surprise me and we may still go to Bea's, but honestly I don't know if I could handle it. This Mother's Day will be a very sad day. Please remember Charlie. We all still need your prayers!