New blog, new life

Considering I haven't blogged since 2009, I figured it was time to re-do it all.  (If you want to see the old blog, click here.)  Nothing fancy, but something different.  I'm one of those weirdos who loves change, so this helps to ease my need for it.  In looking through my old blogs, it's amazing to me how much life has changed.  When I last blogged, we had just adopted our dog, Nacho, I was in the midst of losing weight (ha), I had just gotten my last tattoo (sadness) and life was...well, ordinary.  We hadn't gone to Philly on a mission trip yet, our church hadn't moved into our new building yet, I was doing a daily devotional...wow.  Life was SO different.  One thing hasn't changed - I still love lists.  So, since then...

We not only adopted Nacho, we also adopted Roxie, a corgi mix, who originally belonged to our pastor & family.  Their son was allergic to dog saliva, come to find out, and this dog is a licker.  So, after keeping her for a week while they were on vacation, and seeing how well the two dogs got along, we said yes when Luke & Shana asked if we wanted to keep her.

My parents and grandparents came down for a weekend - that was one of the last big trips my grandparents took.  My grandma has since been diagnosed with dementia and possible onslaught of Alzheimer's.  It's been really hard being away from them as they deal with all of the changes these crappy diseases make.

Instead of Boston, we did a mission trip in Philly - it was a great trip, but a definite reminder that we are NOT 21 anymore.  Ugh.

Two of the most cherished people in our lives got married, and we were both a part of the celebration.  It was such a great day in the midst of a lot of tragedy and drama.

Paul's dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in November of 2009, and he lost that battle (but gained heaven!) in February of 2010.  We miss him...

After 10 years, two colleges, 5 majors and a lot of junk in between, Paul graduated with a degree is Christian Ministry from Crown College in May of 2010.  We were all SO proud of him!  We went to MN to watch him walk across the stage - a huge acheivement, one that I wouldn't have let him miss for the world.

The rest of 2010 was kinda blurry and messy, with some good points thrown in.  We found out we were pregnant in July after 6 months of trying (this was definitely a good point!), had a contract signed on our house in August (it had been on the market for almost a year and a half), we celebrated 5 years of marriage in September, moved into an apartment that same month and had to pay double payments for two months because our contract didn't close until the week of Thanksgiving.  If all of that wasn't enough, Paul was diagnosed with a brain tumor in December.  Whew.  We couldn't wait for 2010 to be over.  Starting in 2011, Paul had a brain biopsy done in February, and everything came back fine, praise God!!  They didn't remove the whole thing because of the area it was in, but he will continue to be watched closely with MRI's every 3-6 months. 

And then, April 1st, 2011, God blessed us with a beautiful baby boy (after 28 hours of labor, mind you) - Isaac Nathaniel Barnett.

I'll tell that whole story in a different post...

Isaac is now 4 months old, I'm having a biopsy done on an abnormal mole, and there's a lot of stuff going on with our church.  We'll be moving again at the end of the month, and it's nasty hot here in Alabama.  All in all, the last two years have been, by far, the most challenging years Paul and I have had together.  But you know what?  We're so much better for it.  I know it sounds cliche, but God is good and he truly doesn't give you more than you can handle, as long as you surrender what you're handling to Him.  Soli Deo Gloria...