Happy Birthday Nathan!

Today was my hubbie's birthday. My camera with the pictures on it is in the car, so pictures will have to come later. However I just wanted to praise God for today, for allowing me to still celebrate my husband even with the hard times going on right now. I spent the day with my mom working on funeral arrangements and taking care of things related to grandpa's passing. However this evening, I was able to take my husband to dinner, with his parents. We went to Sierra Nevada Brewery as Nate had never been there before.

When I came home to meet my husband for dinner, I brought cupcakes I had baked at my mom's. I didn't have them frosted and decorated yet, so I still needed to do that. It was perfect though because when I got home, Nate was running to the store. So while he was gone I worked on them getting them ready. Nate came home right as I was finishing up, so he saw me putting the finishing touches on them, but that was okay. He was excited.

Now I praise God for today because I wanted to bless my husband with cupcakes, as he loves them. I wasn't sure how I was going to pull his birthday off with me being so busy and mourning my grandpa's death. But I figured I could find time to bake cupcakes. Now, I was using what was on my mom's shelf and all she had was a carrot cake mix. (I would have baked another kind from scratch, but my recipes all call for the milk and eggs and butter mixture to sit for thirty minutes, which I did not have), so I was using a box mix, but carrot cake was all my mom had on the shelf. While Carrot Cake is my favorite, it is not my husband's. However, when I presented the cupcakes (on a cupcake tower) to my husband, he was so happy. He grabbed the one at the top of the tower (the one MOST decorated of course) and chowed down. He said they were good, so I was happy. I was kind of worried I might hear "I don't like carrot cake", but no....my husband was grateful for what I could do. And he had more than one thoughout the night which tells me that he actually did like them.

So, I praise God for the small things. For finding time to bake for my husband's birthday, and for carrot cake...who knew my husband would delight in carrot cake cupcakes? It was awesome.

Cupcakes, a nice dinner, and a relaxing evening. It was a nice night.

Now, I better attempt to get some sleep...that is still hard for me right now as the memories creep in when I sleep. I miss my grandpa.

My Grandpa Valente

Hello friends and family. I write tonight broken and confused. I have sad news to share this evening, as my Grandpa Manuel Valente (Mom's Dad) has passed away. We received a call from the nursing home about 5:30 this evening saying his blood pressure was very low and asked if we wanted him transported to the hospital. We said yes and met them there.

Upon arriving, my mom found him not coherant and the doctors said it did not look good. They were doing a chest x-ray when I got there. Mom met me out in the waiting room, and then went back in to check on grandpa and said she'd be back in a few minutes. I started making some phone calls to family and then received a call about five minutes later from my mom, telling me grandpa had died. It all happened so fast, it is crazy. My mom said grandpa was not conscience when she went in there, but she put her hand on his head and told him it was okay. It was then that his heart rate just went down fast, and he was gone in a matter of moments. I got the staff to get me back there immediately and found my mom in the room with my grandpa and the doctor. The doctor was an amazing comfort to my mom until I got in the room. When I arrived he left us alone and told us he was there if we needed him.

I stood and hugged my mom for a few moments. A friend, and former pastor, was there with us and helped us get through those first few moments. He started making the appropriate calls to the mortuary and such. Mom and I then stepped outside to get some air. We were told we would need to wait for the coroner before leaving the hospital as they would need to take a report. We met with them briefly and were able to leave shortly. We then went to the care home, collected his belongings and went home to my mom's house. We are here now processing what has happened and realing in the reality that he is gone. No matter how long we have been preparing for this day, nothing can really prepare you for the moment it happens. You just have to rest in God's arms and allow Him to carry you.

It is amazing how awesome God is. Friends, my brother was here from Michigan visiting this weekend. He flew back to Michigan this morning. Last night my mom, brother, myself and my husband all went together to visit grandpa. He was coherant and we had a conversation with him. My brother and I both hugged grandpa. I looked directly in his eyes and told him twice how much I loved him. This would be the last time I saw my grandpa alive. I praise my God for allowing my family to be together one last time with grandpa. I praise Him that I was able to say goodbye to my grandpa like that and let him know how much I loved him. I praise God for allowing my grandpa to see his family together and know that his daughter would be taken care of. I truly believe that my grandpa knew he could let go after seeing everyone together again. I think God showed him peace that we would be okay.

Though death is not easy, and this is a very hard loss for my mom and family, I will praise my God for remaining faithful. I will praise my God for sustaining me. He will be my fortress and strength. We will be okay, with God's help.

Thank you friends and family for all you have done. For all of you have been there to pray, offer encouraging words and hold my hand, I thank you. I praise God for you.

I am going to try to get some sleep, if I can. I will keep you updated on the happenings.

Love you All.

Quirkiness

Well I have been tagged by Momma Bug and so I am complying and playing the game. Actually I don't mind at all, it's just last month or maybe the month before I played the Seven Random Things about myself meme, and so now I am going to try to come up with six more quirky things? Is that possible?! Okay, those of you who know me well can stop laughing at me now....

1. I cannot stand to see or listen to people cracking their knuckles. It makes me want to puke. Seriously...it's worse than nails on a chalkboard.

2. I can't sleep to the sound of silence. It must be cool and there must be the sound of a fan humming. Without it, I will not sleep. Good thing my husband likes the exact same thing (isn't it awesome how God gives us even the littlest things like that).

3. I have to read every page in a book. I can't skip the intro. or preface or dedication, or any of it. If I do, I just can't say that I've read the entire book. And I feel guilty for skipping parts of it.

4. If I am sharing a drink with someone, say my husband for example, I go balistic if they hang on to the cup instead of setting it back down when they are not drinking it. If I go to take a drink and they are holding it,...well, I go crazy. (Note to pre-marital counselors....advise husbands to have a separate drinking glass...LOL)

5. I like clocks to be set ahead by about five minutes...it's some trick to me mentally to have more time than said clock says.

6. Last, but definately not least...I HAVE to have bath towels folded a certain way. If you're not going to fold them they way I like...I may as well fold them myself. They just don't sit on the rack properly otherwise.

Okay, now that you all think I am crazy I am going to tag other people in an attempt to make myself look less crazy. Come on now...we all have our quirks!

I Tag:

Nate (even though he won't participate cause he is too cool for this stuff...lol)

Mommy Reg

Denae

That's all I have to tag because Analene tagged the other People I know. Guess I need to make more blogging friends, huh?

Okay Analene...you better comment on my quirkiness!

Softball and Other Midnight Ramblings

It's after midnight and I should be sleeping. However once again I can't, so I thought I'd type a blog. I wish I had pictures to include for tonight cause you'd laugh your face off at Molly and I, but they are on her camera so I will have to wait to get them. But when I do, maybe you'll see them!

Tonight I had another softball game. Have I mentioned softball on this blog yet? Maybe not, so if you don't know, Nate and I are on a softball team with our church, Harvest Community. Tonight was a late game at 8:45pm. I wasn't sure I was going to make it as my pain was horrible all day. But I knew I must press through as we are kind of short on girls and I didn't want my team to be forced to forefit. So I went and played the best I could...only to find that our opposing team was a challenge to deal with. Their attitudes were ugly and I was struggling to deal with them. It was very hard to let their comments role off and keep going. Having been in pain all day, my nerves were shot and I was already edgy. My pastor and Molly helped me to keep going and encouraged me to remember that tonight it was my turn to be the example.

See we've got to remember as a team that we are representing Christ. Our team name is Harvest Community. So people figure out pretty easily that we are a church. Our team is not in this to win (even though that is always a plus), but to fellowship with each other and have some fun. We all should be striving to be an example for Christ everyday, but when we are together as a group, and it is clearly exemplified that we are a church, we have to remember to watch out attitudes and make sure we are reflecting God's love.

More than once I wanted to snap back with a comment to the opposing team, but I kept thinking "What would Jesus Do?" and I heard in my head "turn the other cheek." So I did, and I made it through. Yes we lost our game, but left with our integrity and we know that we left the example of Christ out on the playing field. Tonight, that's all that really mattered.

Happy Mother's Day

Today was a wonderful Mother's Day. I spent the day with my husband, mom and brother. We started our day off at church, and then went to lunch. Came home cleaned up the house a bit, changed clothes, and headed over to my mom's house to meet up with the family again. Mom, Danny (brother) and I played a game called Dutch Blitz and then Mom, Danny, Nate and myself went to see What Happens in Vegas. After the movie, Danny had to leave and make his way back to San Francisco fo his second week of reserve duty. Nate went home to work on a paper for school, and mom and I spent the rest of the evening together. I did come home and make sure my hubby got some dinner though!

Beings that it is Mother's Day, today could have been a hard day for me. Most of you reading this blog know of my health problems and know that I cannot have children. So, today could be a day that I could struggle to get through. However, because I chose to focus on other things, like honoring my own mom, and because of a couple of thoughtful friends, today brought a smile to my face.

This morning at church my pastor's wife (and very special friend to me) came and told me that she's been praying for me this week and this morning as she knew that today could be a hard day for me. It meant the world to me for her to tell me that. I was SO touched that she would think of me, when she has two small kids of her own and it is her day to celebrate mommyhood. She had tears in her eyes telling me, and I could feel her compassion for me. God ordained that moments friends, and I am grateful.

Then tonight I checked my check my myspace account and my best friend, Sarah, had left me a comment saying "Happy Mother's Day...You are the Best...To An AWESOME Aunty!!!" That touched my heart as well. I've included a picture of her two children who I am aunty to.

So my friends, today was an awesome day for me and I want to say thank you to those of you who helped make it that way for me. Thanks for turning what could have been a hard day, into a good one. I love you all!

A Brief Look Back

Well friends, unfortunetely I don't have anything too profound to share tonight. It's been a long week, and I am looking forward to the weekend. Work's been overwhelming and I've been quite stressed. Today God spoke to me reminding me "Do it all for the Glory of God." That struck me today. I have a hard time with that sometimes when I am stressed and irritated with what is going on around me, especially in my work situation. So, when God reminded me of that today, I tried to have a new attitude, one that was a little more positive at my outlook of today and the future. It's actually helped me a bit to carry on with what is coming my way.

1 Corinthians 10:31 "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

I'm including a pic of myself and my cat Onyx that was taken tonight. It was too cute for my mom to resist snapping a picture. He's my baby!

San Francisco Trip

These are a few pictures from my weekend! My brother is out in CA from Michigan for his navy reserve duty, and mom and I went to visit him. It is always lovely to get to see my brother, as it only happens about twice a year. We had a very nice time. We went to Pier 39 for a few hours, had some great seafood, and then headed to the store for some groceries. Went back to the apartment, made dinner together, and enjoyed another nice meal. Yes, my family likes to eat together. It's one thing we enjoy...cooking together or enjoying nice meals out.

It was a nice break to get away for a day or so even though it was short. My honey couldn't come with us as he had work and school to attend to. No worries though, my brother gets to come home this weekend, so we will spend more time together. So, that was my weekend. Thought I'd share with you all!