Video Testing...the dogs

I am trying out this video thing. I didn't have anything interesting really at the moment to video besides the dogs. From what I tested there is no sound which is a bummer in particularly to this piece because I was getting the dogs to speak and giving them commands. O well, if you have any tips please let me know.

So Excited...

I am so excited about being able to take the next step in this journey called life. As most of you read earlier, we are on our way to seminary, FINALLY! Most of you who know me know that I am a huge organizer freak. So, after the news, I was downstairs yesterday all day in what we like to call Dean and Judy's warehouse, where all our stuff is. Going through tons of boxes and pretty much reorganizing and repacking what we will be able to take with us. We are so excited that God has given us every desire of our heart in this move, the 2 bedroom. The 1 bedroom was 800 sq feet, so now we have 1000 sq feet. Crazy right. How am I going to fit our life into that little of a space, especially after living in our 4 bedroom, 4 bath townhouse for the past 2 years. So, we have a lot of stuff to leave behind I guess you could say. I had a lot of fun yesterday though going through all the boxes. I am still not done, but a lot of it I have to wait for Josh to go through together.

That takes me on to another subject. I am thankful for my husband and his desire to be involved in things like decorating and kitchen stuff. I know many husbands don't care much about that kind of thing, which if fine and ok for them. I am glad that I have someone who has fun with that kind of thing.

As of right now my to do list is pretty long, and you know I have one for real. I hope to be crossing things off one by one as the day gets closer. One thing on the list that we can't wait for is IKEA! This is where I need reader participation. I know there are bunches of you out there who never comment. I really need your help. Any helps that you have with living small and organized please leave me a comment. I am like a sponge when it comes to that kind of information.

SUPER EXCITED!!

Housing Update (PRAISE!!!)

I'm sure Shana would have posted this later, but she's not home and I'm excited. On the way to see Clay this morning, somewhere in Alabama, I got a call from the housing office at Southern Seminary. They said that there was a mix up in the email system and that we would have a 2 Bedroom Apartment ready for us on June 22nd!!! It's in the location that we wanted and 2 bedrooms is exactly what we wanted. Praise God! It's a little sooner than we had expected but that's great for us. It's about a week before summer classes start. Amazing huh?

What a day! First Clay and then housing confirmation! Whew. What else will God do?

Visit to see Clay

Today Chris Jordan, myself, Zach, and Andy went to Birmingham to visit Clay in the hospital. It was a great time. We were only able to get back to his room for about 20 min because of the ICU rules. What time we had was such a blessing. As soon as we walked in we all sort of broke down. Clay was sitting up and breathing just fine. There is still a good deal of pain from the surgery and he's still "learning" how to breathe and trust his lungs. The 20 min. we were in there was the longest I had been around Clay without him coughing in quite a long time. There was one point when he stopped, closed his eyes, and took several deep breaths with no problem. His mom joked that he was just showing off. What he was really doing was being a blessing to all of us and showing off the power of God.

Clay is still struggling emotionally. The medicine he is on makes him very anxious and jittery. He's having a hard time sleeping and trusting his lungs. He's simply not used to breathing normally (which is something I hope we never take for granted again!). The doctors are hopeful that he can move out of his ICU room into a regular room in a day or so. He's up walking around once or twice a day also.

Continue to pray for Clay's emotional and spiritual strength as well as his physical recovery. Clay is one of the most godly guys I know and knows his Bible as well as anyone. This is where his knowledge and application of that knowledge meet. Let's pray that God will continue to grow Clay in trusting what he knows.

His dad told me that it's easy for all of us to be so excited for him and his transplant. But we all need to remember that this will be a huge emotional and physical change that will come with a lot of time. Speaking of his parents, Wayne and Judy are doing great! They couldn't be more excited.

One last quick note... Wayne told me that throughout all of the years that they've dealt with CF he's always trusted God's timing. He never once prayed that God would "give us lungs now." He knew that for Clay to get lungs, it meant that someone else would be losing their life. So Wayne simply trusted God. Last Thursday night Clay was at the point where he said, "I can't do this anymore dad. I'm tired." It was then that Wayne and Clay cried out to God and said, "Lord, we need these lungs now. Please help us!" The lungs came on Saturday night and the surgery was Sunday morning! Simply AMAZING!!!

Tell me there's no God.

Update on Clay

PRAISE GOD!!

Clay made it through the surgery wonderfully! After just about 6 hours the doctors were able to do what was no less than a God-given miracle! The doctor said the the lungs were a perfect match! He also said that it was simply a miracle that Clay had lived as long as he has after seeing his old lungs.

Praise Him!

Clay is in recovery and even responding a little. He will remain in the Critical Care ICU for the next few days. Then he will be moved to the regular ICU for a few weeks. Once released from the hospital, he will need to remain in the Birmingham area for approx. 4 weeks for periodic observation.

The biggest concerns and prayer requests at this stage is for there to be no infections or body rejection of the lungs.

God has answered our prayers! God has plans for Clay that are beyond anything we could ask or imagine!

Clay Naylor

One of my best friends, Clay Naylor is currently (Sunday, May 25, 7:20 am) undergoing a lung transplant at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Clay has had cystic fibrosis for most of his life. This will be a life altering surgery for him. It is still a relatively new operation so there is a good amount of risk involved. I just spoke with his mom (Judy) on the phone and she and her husband (Wayne) are very excited but also very nervous. The surgery will last most of the day and Clay's recovery will take several weeks. As you read this please pray for him.

John Wayne Scene

For all of you who like John Wayne, here is one of the best hits in film history. Scroll to the 7:40 mark in the video. This is the Sons of Katie Elder.

Update..

My girlfriend Jenny has been telling me that I stink at keeping ya'll updated. Here I go. Jenny let me know what you think.

A bunch of you might be thinking about what we are up to right now. We are still living, and loving life, here at the Stringer Ranch. God has blessed me with incredible in-laws, and yes we still like each other. It has been almost 5 months that we have been living here, time flies. Most of you know that we have been on a waiting list for housing. Most people would get housing faster then us, but most people don't have 2-4 legged children. So, we are only capable of living in one housing area. We have had a recent development that gives us a little better hope of getting in, we found out that the school had us on the wrong waiting list. They had us on the August list and we have been trying to get in for June. Bummer I know. We just got it fixed and so we are on the July list, hoping to hear something the 1st of June or close to it.

Josh has just registered for classes for the summer and the fall. This is really exciting because this is solidifying that we are really going. I am in the process of contacting some head-hunters in KY to get my job search started. It would be absolutely fabulous if I could have job ready when we arrived. I am still currently working at The Fresh Market part-time. I have recently tried to get a job at Starbucks for the extra hours and possible benefits, but nothing has come of it as of yet.

Other news, I am loving the new car we purchased. I just took it on it's first road trip to see my friend Jenny in SC. I had a really good time. I totally forgot my camera so I have no pictures. I know I stink. Here is one of my first visit after Caris was born. Caris is now almost a year and a half, I guess moms would say she is 15 weeks. I mention Jenny a few times in this post so now you can have an image of who she is.

Judy is away for the week in Hilton Head, so I guess I am the lady of the manor this week. I have some pretty big shoes to fill I guess you could say. Josh and I went to see Prince Caspian today after church too. It was really good. I love the stories. I tried to finish it before we went to see it, but was unsuccessful. I will finish it though so I get the full story. I cried a bunch, I know I am a big wimp.

Well, I don't want to make this too long that you won't read it.

You've Been Rick Rolled!

Don't know what Rick Rolled is???
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickroll

If you'd like to be Rick Rolled follow this link...
http://yougotrickrolled.com/

Next, check out this video and be amused

Hilarious!!!

One of my guilty pleasures shows is America's Funniest Videos. Any time its on I can watch it and be completely entertained. I saw this video on there and died laughing, but I kind of felt bad. What do you think? Don't you feel a little bad for this kid? But what's really funny is Janice laughing!!






And now a nice AFV Slingshot Montage...note the Grandma at the end.