Out of the Repair Shop!!!

Most of you know by now, but I just looked and realized that I haven't updated my blog in a month and a half. Sorry.

I went for a second opinion to another doctor...my NEW doctor....and he said that he wasn't sure why the last doctor would scare me to death like he did...but I do NOT have cancer and I do NOT need to have surgery. Chock another one up to God!!!!

Thank you for all the prayers on my behalf...and the cards, calls and hugs. You will never know how comforting they were!

So it's back to life as usual...running and gunning! (Hence the month and a half delay in updates!)

Prayer Request

Yikes, This post is a little hard to write.
It's easy to ask my prayer warrior friends for prayers of others that I know, but this time I have a prayer request for me. Yesterday afternoon, I went for my yearly exam. During the pap exam they found a mass. The doctor continued with the exam but has asked me to come back in 2 weeks for an ultrasound so that he can look in my uterus for any more polyps or masses. Two of the three scenarios he gave me required surgery.....not really my thing! :) Naturally, I fear the worst, but I am trying really hard to let God have my worry so I can focus on being the mommy and wife my family needs me to be. I promise to update you when I get more news. But for now, all I ask is that you add me and my family to your prayers. Thank you for lifting me up to our Father...the Great Healer!!!

(((HIDING SHEEPISHLY)))

Okay, So I know it's been a LOOOONG time since I posted last. But a lot has happened so I will try to catch up as best I can!

We are now in our house!!!! Can I get a WHOOP WHOOP!?!?! :) After a long 18 months of living in 5 houses and out of suitcases and boxes...we are now (almost) box free!! The girls are loving their own rooms and the play room. I love that they have their own rooms so I can have some down time on occasion. God has blessed us greatly!! Now.....we need visitors! (Come when you can...there's PLENTY of room and we would LOVE to have you!!!!)

This is part of our kitchen from the stairs. I love the red ceiling!!! There aren't counters in this picture...but we have them now! ;)

This is our bedroom. And yes...the bed is HUGE!And it's not even all of it...there is a metal canopy that goes on the top. Be careful what you buy on Craigslist! :) (We thought it was 1/2 the size!! hehe!)

This is our dining room...it's actually just after a shower so there are still "party ware" laying around! :)

This is the "top of the stairs."When I drew out our house plans, I REALLY underestimated how much space this was! :) Lucky for us we turned it into a sitting area with books and scrapbooks! We use it...so it's great!

This is the formal living room. The fireplace wall goes straight up to the ceiling. (About 18 feet!! It was scary up there while painting! EEK!

This is the master bath...it's still not put together! :) We use the sink in the hall bath for now! Time....just don't have enough of it! :)

This is my FAVORITE room....my closet! :) A place for everything and everything in it's place!!!!
This is my favorite wall of my closet! :) Haha! Love my shoes!!!
Tatum's Room...her room is BRIGHT!!! But it's her! :)

Eden's room! You can't tell from this picture, but her room is pink and brown hounds tooth....and it's always a mess. :)

Rough Revelations

Many of you know that the Cook's don't generally live a calm, slow and uneventful life. We tend to lean towards the spastic side of life. The past few weeks have been no different.

My wonderful, preacher hubby earns his money with the "after hours" that he puts in. But, I think the past week and a half he has done the work of MANY men. (But, I am partial!) Our church family has had a rough time lately. We have lost three members. It began with Ms. Opal Bradford. She was a sweet lady that has an even sweeter daughter, Winnie, that my girls absolutely LOVE. (She's another grandma to them!) Well, Ms. Opal passed away and David spent several days with the family comforting them and being a pallbearer at the funeral. It's so great to hear of all the wonderful things that were said about her. She meant so much to so many.

Three days later, we lost Carl Bonds. He was another important member to our church. A leader, once upon a time. Mr. Bonds has been ill for many years and finally went home to be with God. David once again spent several days with the family and performed the funeral. Carl will be missed by his dear wife, Elwanda.

Two days later, we had the one year anniversary to the tornado that ripped our town to shreds. Our community got together and had a special service to remember those that lost their lives and to celebrate those that came to help clean up and put us back together. It's still hard to think about the 'might have beens' with that storm. We got to praise God for sparing the lives of our dear friends the Blanton's. They were in their house when it was ripped apart. They were scattered all over their yard, amazingly there were only minor injuries and are all back to 'normal!' (As normal as a preachers family with 4 kids can be! Hi, Amy!) It was an emotional service for many.

The very next night.....complete tragedy struck our church family when a dear friend was killed in a car accident on her way home from work. Jean Henson left behind a 14 year old son, Dakota. Who I ask you to pray for. David spent 4 days with Jean's extended family helping to comfort them and make arrangements for the funeral. It was one of the most impressive funerals I have ever been to as there was standing room only and every possible seat in our church was full! The outpouring of love to Dakota was so incredible that David had a hard time getting through the eulogy without tears. (Which of course is contagious!) Jean touched the lives of so many that, I am sure, she never knew about. She was a soft spoken, but to the point woman. She loved my kids and treated them extra special. She was Eden Bible school teacher and would often tell me (sometimes terrible!!!) stories that she "told on us" in class. Many times I would be in tears from laughing at something Eden said. Jean never had lots of money, didn't wear the finest clothes or drive the fancy cars. But what she did have....genuine love for you. She never accepted a side arm hug...only two arms would do! And she made a point to tell you if she thought about you that week. She will be missed.

As you can see we have had enough sadness to last a long while around here. But it didn't come without a lesson. After being to three funerals and a service to remember those who have (or almost) lost their lives in a tornado, I have realized that I need to tell people that I love them more. I need to tell people when I pray for them...send more cards....hug more and hug longer. I am challenging you as well as myself to commit to this with me! What better time to re-commit to love one another than Valentines!!?!!!

So to all of you out there.....I love you! I appreciate you and what you have brought to my life.

I've been playing a lot of tag lately.....

I will tag anyone who wants to do it!!!! Have fun!


1.WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? No my mom made up my name...just ask her ! haha!

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Two nights ago...watching "Because I said So."

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? I worked really hard for it to look nice...I'm a lefty.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? honey ham...cold!

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Two girls

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I'd probably
think I was a snob until I got to know me...that's what usually happens. :)

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM? Nope..never...absolutly not.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Once upon a time I would have...and almost did..but not now.
My brain grew in.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Cinnamon Life ..Mmmmm.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No

12.What's the first thing to pop into your head? My car needs a bath...inside and out.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Chocolate chip cookie dough

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their teeth...hate gross teeth.

15. RED OR PINK? Both..together even!

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? Temper

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? All my friends from the past that I lost touch with.

18. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Denim jeans and white tennis
shoes.

19. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The gas well behind the house. Too bad it's not mine.....$$$$

20. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Redish-orange...I'm sure there is a name....

21. FAVORITE SMELLS? I can't smell, so nothing! :)

22. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? David

23. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Gymnastics, Ice Skating

24. HAIR COLOR? Dark brown

25. EYE COLOR? green

26. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Nope

27. FAVORITE FOODS? Pizza, Orange juice, pierogi's with cheddar and potato..yummmm.

28. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? No scary for me...Happy endings every time!

29. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Because I Said So

30. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Bright yellow...thought it might help with the mood today !:) ( I was dealing with tax people!)

31. SUMMER OR WINTER? summer

32. FAVORITE DESSERT? Strawberry Cheesecake...with LOTS of strawberries.

33. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? None, but I just finished Confession of a
Shopaholic....it was alright. I hope the movie is better.

34. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? No mouse pad

35. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? The Office, Flight of the Concords, big
Love (No Superbowl graced our screen! :))

36. FAVORITE SOUND(S): laughing babies, ocean waves crashing along the side of a cruise ship, bird chirping...and a cash register! :)

37. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Blah.....

38. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Bahamas

39. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? decorating, singing & scrapping

40. WHAT SHOULD YOU BE DOING? picking Tatum up from school....gotta go!!!

Happy New Year!

It's been almost 2 months since my last post....I'm sorry. It's been a crazy two months. I will try to update as best I can. So sit back and soak in....

-Our house is getting there. We hit a lull during deer season and the holidays, but we seem to have regained our momentum. We have garage doors now, that I happen to LOVE. And we have most of our house sided. We still have to go pick out our brick for the bricked parts, but that can't get bricked up till next month anyway...so we aren't stressing about that yet. Hopefully, next week we will be able to insulate and shortly after drywall. Whew! Can't wait!

-Our kids are still getting big. We started Upward Cheerleading this week. Because of the lack of volunteers, David and I both ended up coaching. David has a boys basketball team....which I think is weird b/c we don't have ANY boys or basketballs players. And until Tuesday afternoon, I was the coach for 2 cheerleading squads....17 girls. Also funny because I was never a cheerleader. Luckily a friend felt called to take half of them off my team and form another one. YEAH ROBIN!!!! So now I am down to 9. That I can handle. I feel sorry for the poor little girls who think they are going to learn how to be a cheerleader!!! A cheerleader...I am not.

-Christmas. Our family spent another year at Camp Takodah. It was great. We stayed in The Pines for 4 days. It was such a good relaxing time. We got to hike, eat, horseback ride, eat, sleep, eat.....and the best part was eatting. Did I mention we ate? The highlight of the week was finding out my little brother, Travis, and his wife, Stephanie, are going to have a baby! So around August there will be another McMillion! It was such a great Christmas. My camera was broken so I am relying on others to send me pictures....so far I have nothing. ;)

-New Years......we didn't do anything big. We went to a friends house and played Loaded Questions for hours and hours and hours. It was fun...and we even stayed up! (That's a first for 4 years!)

-Well that's all for now! Stay tuned...when I get pictures I will post them....HINT HINT HINT...family! :)

Random Things That I Love.....

In celebration of Thanks-living Week....

1. I love fall colors. Those are the colors that I look best in. My clothes, my house, my hair even, all fall.

2. I love Sonic Strawberry Cream Slushes. I will get one anytime I have a long drive ahead of me. I will turn on my favorite music from my #2 man and sip away at the cold yumminess. It's a little piece of heaven reserved just for me...and Tim McGraw.

3. I love David's big gray sweatshirt. It is HUGE on me....perfect for snuggling in. (He likes that I wear it too! ;) )

4. I love Google. I GOOGLE everything. From some new "ailment" that I have to anyone that I have ever known....it's been Googled.

5. I love fun panties. Life is too short to wear granny panties....to clarify: just brightly colored...no "weird stuff."


6. I love Tatum's giggle. When Tatum gets tickled, she has this little baby giggle. We don't hear it very often, but when we do....it takes me back.

7. I love putting my cold feet on a warm David at night. This may sound terrible, but I think in some small way, he likes it. It's just one of those "little things'' that we just do. I hope I always have a warm David to warm my ice-feet at night.

8. I love to sing praise songs with LOTS of people. Is there anything better than worshiping our God with others...in song? My heart overflows and it comes out my eyes...every time. It makes me miss the squeak of my chapel seat.

9. I love that Eden sucks her thumb....still. Okay, I know most of you are thinking...'She will have buck teeth!!" Well, no, she doesn't. It's the weirdest thing...she doesn't actually suck her thumb. She licks it...in her mouth. I love to watch her when she sleeps. Her little chin moves just like it did when she would nurse as a baby. It brings back those bonding memories for me. I know one day she will have to quit, but for now, I think it's cute.

10. I love to talk to myself in the mirror. Okay, I am telling on myself..but I do. Everyday when I am blow drying my hair and putting on my make-up, I am thinking of possible conversations that I might have that day...and I talk. Lots of awkward situations have probably been avoided because I have "rehearsed" in the mirror. I am thankful for the trial run.

What are your random loves?