Mr. & Mrs. Shirah

My sister is a married woman. Wow, that sounds weird. She and Chris Shirah were married on August 9, 2008 and it was the most beautiful wedding. They are so adorable and the day was truly a blessed day.

The world lost a great one and the Lord gained a great one!

Diane...I miss you and I love you!
Mere words cannot express my love for Diane. I cannot imagine a day without her, yet here I am trying to imagine a life without her. Diane was the one who I could always count on for advice. Whether good or bad she always gave it to me straight and never sugar coated anything even when I wanted her to. She was truthful; loyal to a fault; regal; inspiring; respectful; sympathetic; loving in her own unique way; encouraging; strong; courageous...I could go on and on. I take comfort in knowing that she is in no more pain and that she will never hurt ever again, but I miss her so much. I try not to be selfish by thinking about the things I will miss having here there for like the birth of my child one day when I am blessed. I long to have a child and I know she longed for me as well. I so wanted her to see that. She loved me and I love her and that will be my memory of her forever. She was my rock! Diane went to be with the lord on August 7, 2008.

New pictures

These pictures are from another of our former youth's wedding this past weekend: Ty & Brooke. Marty had the honor to officiate the wedding and I had the honor to sing in the wedding. It was a wonderful weekend.

Jessica, my sister, and me.















Tammy, one of the most wonderful Christian ladies I know, and me.















Me and Holden, Alicia and Micah's little boy.














Me and Alicia, one of the very best friends a girl could ask for.














Marty and me. I love him dearly.



















Me and our little girl, Maddy.

My little sister is getting married

It is so hard to believe that in 24 days my little sister, Jessica, will be getting married. It seems just like yesterday that she was constantly following me and my friends around in High School and constantly tattling on me. There is an eight year difference between she and I and that was straining on us growing up; however, today it is wonderful to see how much our relationship has grown and how she has grown into a beautiful young lady. I am so excited for her and her fiancee', Chris Shirah, he has truly been a blessing in our family and we adopted him in a long time ago. It will be nice to "technically" finally have him in the family. Here are some engagement pictures I took of them a few months ago:

Good news

A very dear friend of mine found out today that she is pregnant. I can't even begin to describe how excited I was for her. She and her husband have been trying for almost two years and we have really been there for each other about getting pregnant so I know what she is going through. With that said a sense of sadness came over me when she told me. At first I was upset with myself like how could I make this about me. I have prayed so hard for her (especially this week) as she awaited the results. Then I realized that it's ok to be sad and it's ok to be disappointed because the Lord knows the desires of my heart and that I long for a baby. Iwould never want another couple to be denied a baby or experience what Marty and I have gone through the last two and half years. We are going to be ok. There are going to be good days and bad days, but every day the Lord walks right there with me and that is comforting.

Thankful for my Husband

We were on vacation in Myrtle Beach during Father's Day so I didn't get to write the original post I wanted to for Marty; however, it is amazing how the Lord works and how I was supposed to wait and write this for several reasons. Main reason so I could truly understand the depth of my love for Marty. Marty is at Go Tell Camp (Rick Gage Ministries) this week in Toccoa with his youth group. I miss him tremendously and always do when he is gone. However, yesterday upon arriving home from my first day at my new job I was pleasantly surprised and blessed at my husband's thoughtfulness. You see I always go to bed every night with a big glass of water (I get so thirsty at night) that Marty always makes me and I have a certain way I fall asleep with Marty holding me and cuddling or I can't go to bed. When I got home there was a note on the fridge from Marty that said he made me a water for bed and it was in the fridge. Then when I went in the bedroom he had made the bed for me to sleep in by putting one of his t-shirts on one of the pillows and sprayed his cologne on it and then stuffed another pillow under the comforter like he was there. It is the little things like that I take for granted, but yesterday I realized I am so blessed and truly do not know where I would be without him. He is such a loving husband and above all a wonderful father. Seeing him with Maddy was one of the main reasons I fell in love with him and that was reiterated to me last week on vacation. We just have to take the time to stop and see the little blessings that we have or else we will miss out on a lifetime of joy.

Family

I love my family. That is a known fact to all who know me. Well they out did themselves again this year. My birthday is not until June 19th; however, we will be in Myrtle Beach for vacation during that time so my Mom, Memal, my sister Jessica, her fiancee' Chris and my cousin Carrie all came down to the house today with lots of wonderful gifts. Then they took me shopping in Athens (even more fun, I love to shop) and topped it off with dinner at Longhorns. I really am a lucky girl and I am so thankful to have another year blessed from the Lord with all that He has given me. A wonderful Godly husband, who has been the head of our household since the beginning (5 years this October); a beautiful step-daughter (really she is my daughter) Maddy who adores me and shares such a unique bond with me that can't be explained with words (it is truly from the Lord) and a fabulous family who have always been there for me, loved me and encouraged me through life. Most of all my salvation in the Lord! Thank you for already making my birthday so special. I am truly blessed and I love you all.