Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Please vote for a friend

Dear Readers:

If you could spare a second during the hustle and bustle of the holidays I would appreciate it. I have a friend who has been nominated by a group of gals in a Well Deserving Contest. Amy has been through so much this year. Here is the story of her submission:

• After the harsh realization that Amy’s future husband was not worthy of her love and admiration, she dug down deep to make the tough decision to move on with her life. She knew it wouldn’t be easy to cancel her wedding plans and move out, but she knew she had to do what was best for her and her two young sons. Amy knew it was important that her sons see her strength and courage. It was also important that she only allow good role models into their lives. It was vital that they learned to never settle for less than they deserve. It has been a struggle for her to keep her spirits up. Sometimes Amy thinks of slipping back into that old rut, but she knows her sons deserve better. She deserves better. She’s a wonderful woman, a loving mother, and a hard working individual. I can’t think of anyone else who could use a boost of confidence more than Amy. Every woman wants to feel pretty. But for a woman overcoming a difficult break up, it is even more important. I think the gift of fashionable clothing will help remind Amy White Ivey that she is beautiful both inside and out. And for this amazing mom, that’s a reminder she needs.



If you have a second, please go here, and vote for Amy.

Thanks!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Power of Prayer

Thank you all for sharing in prayers for Chris's aunt. God has worked magic for her. The tumor that was present last week during a CT scan has disappeared. The scans from Friday clearly indicated a tumor in her pancreas. The primary physician and oncologist were certain it was cancer. Then yesterday, during a MRI, the tumor was no longer there. Poof, gone, vanished. What remains is a gall stone the size of a pin head. She is currently in surgery to handle the gall stone issue.

Our family is thanking God for the miracle to remove that tumor. It is hard to believe. Some just blame the treating doctor for making a mistake Friday. I credit God for saving Laura!

Thanks again for the prayers!

Monday, December 12, 2011

Prayer Request

We receieved bad news on Friday. The doc told Chris's aunt Laura that he believes she has pancreatic cancer. She hadn't been doing well for a while, but after a CAT scan and some more bloodwork, this is the conclusion reached. It is absolutely heart breaking. We will know more today as she goes back for more tests and to meet her cancer doctor.
 
Ironically in church yesterday we discussed the power of prayer. I urge you all pray with me. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers today, along with her family. Her 13 year old daughter took the news extremely hard.

Thanks so much!

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Attorney Advice

Not that I ever wish any one to have legal issues, but in case you do, here is a piece of advice for you.

When your attorney gives you specific instructions - be a dear, and follow them. I have two clients right now who cannot follow instructions if their lives depended on it. I tell you to do things for a reason. I am protecting your legal interest. If is really hard for me to do my job when you do things completely opposite of what I say.

That is all.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Playing Catchup

There is really no excuse for my lack of blogging. Life has been busy in the Upton house and some times during the evens, I just want to cuddle up on the couch with my hubby and relax. But that rarely happens, we are usually running around like crazy. I am hoping to get better at it, and blog regularily again (but I cannot honestly make you any promises). So here is a little update on the happenings in life.

~ Married life is wonderful. I love coming home every night, having dinner with my family, cuddling with Chris and the pups. Chris and I spend so much time together and it has been such a blessing. He has even been helping more in the kitchen. Guess he figured if I was going to be out working cows with him, he could help inside the house. On a side note, I miss wedding planning. It consumed my life for so long and was all over in a few hours. I would love to do that every year, but Chris wouldn't let me. So to satisfy the void, I look at pictures and watch our wedding movie.


~ Work is steady and I still love my job. Incoming clients is slowing some as we are in holiday mode. People want to spend money on themselves instead of giving it to me. After the first of the year, this will pick up again. I have been keeping pretty busy though. I am typically in Court 2-3 times a week. Next week I am in Court every day. The best part - I still love my job. Though people keep asking me if I do. Seriosuly, I have been working in this office since 2005, I knew what I was getting myself into. Sure some of the cases break my heart and make me cry, but I feel like I have a purpose every day that I am at work.


~ Chris and I started attending church. We had talked for years about getting back into church when I moved back. I knew Chris wouldn't go without me here, so it was just easier on him to wait until I was back permanently. We really liked the minister who married us, so we have been attending church there. Chris isn't up for Sunday School yet, but we are working in baby steps. I find him reading his bible all the time. We also got ourselves a presents - "The Love Dare" devotional book. We will start on January 1 and have a devotion every day for 2012. So excited.


~ The house is almost fully put together. Both living rooms are done, all bedrooms are done and the kitchen has been completed for over a year (with exception of wall decorations which are slowing being hung). The only room left to unpack and complete is my office. Problem is deciding on a paint color and decorations. I really wanted to paint the office yellow, but Chris is adamently against that. I think we will likely compromise on a light gray on the walls with yellow accents. I just didn't want to spend a ton of money in there because I don't use my office much. I use my laptop all over the house. This is my current Pinterest inspiration

~ I absolutely love Pinterest. It takes up quite a bit of my free time as well. I love finding new receipes and craft projects. I have made some of both. I realyl should have been makings notes and taking pictures so I could blog about them. (new goal to start doing this). I am making Christmas presents for my co-workers from ideas found on there and decorating our house with ideas. It is a wonderful place, except sometimes it makes me feel unstylish. If you have never been on Pinterest, message me your email address and I will invite you. I only wish that I had known of this site as I was wedding planning. Tons of great stuff. Like the below picture. If we do a renewal, this is what I want.


~ We are shopping around for new health insurance. Neither of our jobs provide it so we have to look privately. The insurance coverage that I have now is super expensive and the benefits aren't that great, so I was looking to switch. New thing since Obama-care is that more private insurance companies do not offer maternity coverage, which is something that we want. We aren't wanting to have kids right away, but the two quotes we have received require you to pay increased premiums for at least a year before you get maternity coverage, so we are just planning ahead. But the search has been a huge pain, made more difficult since I cannot compare things equally. If you have any recommendations for an insurance companies, let me know.

~ Most of our cattle were sold today. We don't usually keep the cows through the winter because they are expensive to keep during the winter. We intended on selling all of them today, but we had one that wouldn't load up in the trailer, and in fact ran through multiple fences and ended up on a neighbor's property. So, she is back in our field, along with 4 of my dad's cows for a couple more weeks. Chris is wanting to keep a few to breed, but who knows. We have so much work to do in the fields, work that is much more difficult with cows running around all the time. But at the same time, we have spent a lot of time with these cows. The herd on our property this year were so wild when we got them. They are more like pets now. just extremely large pets.

~ Speaking of pets, there is a new addition to Upton household. Not another dog, but a cat. An outside cat. Chris is extremely allergic, but nonetheless, we have a female black cat named Sammie. She is just a few months old. She came to us as a tiny kitten a couple of months ago. She is essentially the perfect cat for us. All we havet o do is feed her a couple times a day. She keeps the mice away from the house, plays with the cows and lives in our barn. I do not have any pictures of her, but I need to get at least one taken of her.

In general, at the Upton house, we are just moving along through life and trying to be happy people. We love our life, our puppies, our jobs, our families and our farm. And we are anxiously awaiting the time we can make additions to our family. We are a while away from that, but it doesn't staop me from looking up ideas on babies daily. I promise to start blogging on a regular basis again.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!