Littleton School Shooting

If you heard about the shooting at the middle school in Littleton, Colorado, my cousin was the teacher who stopped it.
Here are some neat articles about it and about him:
San Antonio article
Denver article

My aunt just sent me an update on the situation. Here is what she said:

"There are four stories I am now aware of about this very sad incident through my daughter.

Story number 1: The shooter did attend school there, but that was in the early 1990's. He did try to gain access into the main part of the school where the class rooms are. He had gone to the main office and introduced himself in a very polite manner and said he had attended school there. He then asked for permission to go to the bathroom and he was given a pass. When he tried to gain access into the main part of the school where the class rooms are, a janitor stopped him would could not allow him access. After the shootings, they found a backpack full of ammo behind an exit door that he could have accessed had he been in the main school. This man had driven over an hour from where he lived to get to this school. This obviously was a very well planned "murder spree."

Story number 2: One of the teachers at the middle school is having a very hard time with this incident. She is pregnant, but in 1999 she was a senior at Columbine High School where 12 student were shoot. Please say a prayer for Jamie.

Story number 3: Matt has improved and will probably be released this Monday. He will probably be out of school for a month recovering.

Story number 4: Rachael the girl who was shot in the arm is a very lucky person. It has now been determined that there were three shoots fired and two of those shoots were aimed at Rachael. Her coat bears the evidence that the third shoot graced it at her stomach level.

Prayers are needed for all the people who were touched by this incident."

Rachel Ray and my nephew!

My sister and her family were able to go to a filming of the Rachel Ray show last week and my nephew got asked to ask a guest a question. He was chosen because he is the same age as the guest. Here is the link to the video segment. It is very short.
I can't believe that he is about to graduate from high school. He has been accepted to Auburn, University of South Carolina, and University of Central Florida. We are still waiting to hear from a few other schools, including A&M. It would be nice to get him back in Texas because they are living in the New York area right now.

The Best Cheesecake Ever

My sweet husband LOVES cheesecake, and when I say LOVES I mean LOVES! But I never make it (or hardly ever) because I don't have a recipe as good as my friend Carolyn's secret recipe (maybe oneday I will make the "good" friend list and score the recipe). So tonight, I believe I will try this recipe for "The Best Cheesecake." I believe that it has all the ingredients that she says are crucial, but I know she uses some fancy pan that is NOT a springform (imagine that), so we shall see if it turns out. I'll let you know!
Cake:

6 eggs
1 1/2 C sugar
2 lbs. (four 8 ounce packages) cream cheese, preferably Kraft's Philadelphia brand
1/2 pint sour cream
1/2 pint heavy cream
juice of one lemon
1 Tablespoon vanilla
2 heaping Tablespoons flour

Crust:

1 1/2 C crushed vanilla wafers (you can also use crushed graham crackers, or digestive biscuits)
6 Tablespoons melted butter
1/2 C sugar

Preheat oven to to 425°.

Add eggs, sugar, cream cheese, sour cream, heavy cream, lemon juice, vanilla, and flour to mixer. Beat (on low to to low-medium speed) thoroughly, until completely smooth.

While cake mixture is beating, make the crust.

Mix crust ingredients together in small mixing bowl. Pour into 9" spring form pan, pressing into place with your fingers or the back of a spoon. Chill in refrigerator for 15 minutes.

When crust is cool, and cake is thoroughly mixed, pour batter into the pan over the back of a big spoon, so the batter does not disturb the crust. Let it rest for 5 or 10 minutes.

Bake in 425° oven for 15 minutes. Then turn oven down to 275° and bake for 1 hour. Turn off oven. Do not open the oven door for 2 hours! After the 2 hours are up, remove cake and refrigerate.
Source: http://www.squidoo.com/bestcheesecakerecipe


Ok... so I thought it was really good, but DJ says Carolyn's still takes the cake. Boo! I thought I was on to something! Anyone have any suggestions?

Update on DJ's Dad

We found out tonight that DJ's dad does NOT have to have chemotherapy! The pathology report came back and they were able to remove all the cancer. It had not traveled to his lymph-nodes, but they are encouraging him to have follow-up appointments in the near future to check for polyps, just to be sure. Overall, what a huge blessing! They are home tonight and all is well! Although, he did ask DJ's mom if they needed to start looking into nursing homes. She said of course not! This just broke my heart, because he feels like he is such a burden and does not quite understand how much easier life will be now with the colostomy bag. This will make clean-up SOOO mush easier. She tried to explain this to him, but he still feels like he is a burden.
Praying for him as he continues to battle MS. After this hospital trip, he has now almost completely lost use of his left arm, but overall we are so thankful for good news!
Thanks for praying!!!!

2000 miles in 9 days

Wow! I've been doing some driving lately, mostly by myself, which isn't too much fun! Last weekend I headed to Houston for a good friend's bridal showers. Kirk and Korie met in med school in San Antonio while I was still teaching there. They were good friends and then dated for most of their 4 years there. Then they went to Vanderbilt for the residency where he is doing Emergency Medicine and she is an Anesthesiologist. We are so excited that they are finally getting married and can't wait until the big day in March!

While I was in Houston we found out that DJ's dad has colon cancer so we I got home from Houston Sunday night and we headed to Amarillo on Monday. The surgery went well and we are still waiting to see if he will need chemotherapy. We headed home Wednesday night to beat the blizzard that occurred a few hours after we left.

Then Friday my sister called me in my classroom and said that she was in San Antonio unexpectedly (from the New York area) and wanted to know if she could come see us for the weekend. Of course, I hit the road Friday after school and drove to SA to pick her up. We turned around and headed back to Abilene that night. On Saturday we enjoyed some HSU basketball and a fabulous dinner at the Beehive, where we saw almost everyone we know! On Sunday we had the opportunity to hear a great message a church and then take my sister to our favorite Abilene pizza place (Brick Oven) before we hit the road for our long drive back to SA. We arrived in San Antonio with my golden retriever in tow, ate dinner, and then Rollie and I headed back to Abilene to begin another week! What a busy week, I am ready to be on solid ground for a while!

(The top picture is my sister and her family, The second picture is our friends Kirk and Korie.)

Colon Cancer

This weekend we got the news that DJ's dad would need a blood transfusion because his red blood cells were very low. So they began to investigate the cause of the bleeding, telling us that they were looking for blood in either the stomach or the colon...if its the colon then it is cancer. DJ knew immediately that it was cancer. Over Christmas his family had come to visit us and he recalled how his dad "did not look good." Since his dad also suffers from MS I was still optimistic that maybe it was just the ulcer and not the colon. However, DJ's intuition was correct, his dad has colon cancer. The colonoscopy revealed that the probe could not even make it down due to a mass blocking the way. We currently sit in the surgery waiting room as they plan to remove the tumor. The doctors anticipate that he will be in ICU when he gets out of surgery and then there is the question of treatment. They have mentioned chemo, but his dad is already so weak from the MS that we are unsure how his body may handle this. We know that God has a perfect plan and will carry that out, so we sit here and wait for His plan to be revealed in perfect time. We appreciate everyone's prayers during this time. We will keep you posted.

Blessings,
Andrea

A few hours later...
The surgery went well. They are just waiting on the test results of the lymph-nodes to determine if he will need chemo. They removed 1/4 of his colon which means he will use a colostomy (which will make his general care much easier from now on).
Thanks for praying, I will keep yall posted!

Me: can we adopt a baby from Haiti?
DJ: I was wondering when you were gonna ask that, that's something we can pray about.
Me: :)

A mysterious package on the doorstep

Yesterday a mysterious package arrived on the doorstep addressed to me from an address that I did not recognize. I ripped into the package and found a letter from the new homeowners of the house we sold this summer. The letter said that they were enjoying the house very much and that they had poured a lot of money into fixing up the lake house. They sent us pictures of the things they had completed so far. The house looks great and I am so glad that they are enjoying it! On the front porch, they lovingly hung a sign with the name of their new lakehouse: "The Money Pit." :) That made us laugh because it is SO true!

The letter also said that while cleaning out the storage shed, they had stumbled upon a box of letters that they thought I might like to have. I sat down at our dining room table and began to rummage through the old letters. The letters were mostly dated in the 1950's and early 60's and were written from my mother to my great-grandmother. It was so neat to read, in my mother's handwriting and childish voice, letters she had written regularly as a girl to her grandmother. She often spoke of skirts that her grandmother would send her in the mail and she would give her current skirt length. She told of learning to drive their parents' Model T Ford and some of the final letters spoke of her new baby (my sister) and her life as a young married girl. What a treat to look into the past and gain some insight into my mother's childhood.

A Fantastic Celebration...

What a great week! I finished my graduate class with a bang and I am headed into an exciting weekend, then one last fun week of school, then CHRISTMAS!!!!

Tomorrow morning I am hosting a graduation dinner party for one of favorite people. It is really such a fun story how I came to know Dianne. A few years ago in one of my first few classes at HSU I met a lovely Canadian woman who had recently moved to Brownwood from my part of the world (the San Antonio area). She and her husband had spent a handful of years in Pleasanton, just south of SA. When I found this out, we began "the name game" to see if we knew any of the same people (because I have multiple relatives, as well as friends, in good ol' Pleasanton, TX). One of my mom's sisters, Aunt Janet (and Uncle John), had spent many years raising children, grandchildren and an engineering business in this quaint south Texas town. I soon found out that Dianne, in fact, knew my family quite well. Her husband, a pastor, had conducted the funeral service for my beloved aunt 5-6 years prior, and also performed the wedding for my uncle a few years later when he remarried. Dianne and her husband had become great friends with my family... we had an immediate connection.

Since Dianne lives in Brownwood, she commuted to Hardin-Simmons for her weekly graduate classes, but one semester she had a class both Monday and Tuesday evenings. It was that semester that Dianne stayed with us once a week. We enjoyed dinners, great conversations, and a deep friendship. Then this past summer, Dianne and I were asked to co-teach a kindergarten and first grade class for gifted learners on architecture. Needless to say, our bond continued to deepen through the struggles of writing curriculum, creating, and teaching together. So it is with great pleasure that I plan this celebration to honor an amazing woman and unbelievable teacher, my friend, my colleague, and my mentor, as she graduates with her Masters in Gifted Education.

Here is the menu for tomorrow's great celebration:

Spinach, Strawberry, and Hearts of Palm Salad

Honey Baked Ham

Roasted Red Potatoes with garlic and rosemary

Traditional Holiday Stuffing

Baby Pea Salad

Cream biscuits

Italian Creme Cake

Does it sound fabulous? I hope so! I can't wait for the celebration to begin! I will post pictures later...

Elf Yourself

Every year around this time a funny video circulates where you can "elf yourself." So I thought it would be funny to "elf" the third grade teachers (including me) and send it out as our Christmas greeting to the rest of the faculty. So I went to elfyourself and created our video... the only problem... when I emailed it to my team I accidently sent it to a parent (of one of my students as well)! Are you picturing it? The parent opens their email only to find their child's teacher dancing around in an elf costume! I'm a little mortified, but praying she thinks it is funny. What can I do about it now but laugh?! So I thought I would embarrass myself a little more and share it with you too, but I changed the faces to protect the innocent and added DJ and I instead...

Enjoy!

Honoring the 12th Man, trusting the Lord

Ten years ago I was a sophomore at Texas A&M, the place that God used to change my life for His glory, the place so full of believers on fire for the Lord (more my age than I had ever known in my life growing up in the Church), the place I met my very best friends in the whole wide world, the place full of traditions and a spirit can ne'er be told...the Holy Spirit, truly.

As I sit here in my hotel room in College Station ten years later, preparing to attend the football game tomorrow and again next week, I read a friend's blog recapping a life changing moment our sophomore year. Here words describe exactly what I remember...a time when our campus came together even more than usual to rely on the Lord...

"From the outside looking in you can't understand it, from the inside looking out you can't explain it."

I really can't put words around that tragedy to full remember and honor that day, but I did want to share with you a friend who poignantly recalled what we as the Aggie family experienced during that time when Bonfire fell.

Slightly Stressful Moment of the Day

I had a slightly stressful moment at the grocery store this afternoon when I walked out to the parking lot to get into my car. I put my key in the car door, unlocked the car, and opened the door. As soon as I did this, the car panic alarm began to honk loudly. I didn't know why my car was doing this until I reached in the backseat to begin unloading my groceries and I noticed that this WAS NOT MY CAR!!! How embarrassing! I quickly shut the car of which I was trespassing and used my key to lock the door back! The elderly people walking by could only stare at me as I sheepishly explained that it wasn't my car but my key worked on the door! With my head low, I quickly walked to the next aisle where my car was parked in the exact same space (just one row over), hoping that the owner of the other car had not seen me. I can't help but wonder if my key would have worked in the ignition.

Creativity... I want some more of that

I have suddenly become obsessed (maybe that's too strong of a word) with blogs, mostly other people's - especially creative people. I tell myself that if I had more time I would make time for all of these great things I read about. I think I secretly want to be Martha Stewart, not really her so much but just the idea of being a domestic goddess (I don't really like that term, but you know what I mean). I just love baking and cooking and decorating and entertaining and sewing. I want my house to be spotlessly clean, but lately I don't feel like I have had the time to keep up with all the dusting and crazy amounts of laundry. Anyway, my whole point was I ran across Caroline's blog not too long ago and I LOVE it! She is an amazing photographer and ridiculously creative. I actually teach with her mom and go to church with her family as well, but I have never met her. That is going to change soon because we are definitely planning to have her take some pictures of us sometime in the future...maybe in the spring. Anyway, I just wanted to share her creativity with you because she is amazing.

Random Phone Call

I received a random phone call today from the people who bought my mom's house. (We had her house on the market for 2 years and it finally sold in July.) So it scared me a little when I had a message from the new owner. I was thinking, "Oh no! What went wrong, and what does she think I can do about it?" Well, it turns out that she received her taxes on the house and found out that we only sold her half of the property! She was frantic! She asked, "Did you intend to sell us the whole property and the house?" "Yes, of course!!!" Well, there has been some mistake and they actually only own .2 of an acre while we also own .2 of an acre. I wonder who actually owns the house!? I told her not to worry, that we would sign whatever we needed to make the whole property officially theirs. I called our realtor, who is actually on vacation, but thankfully was able to get ahold of her. She said that she would call the title company tomorrow and hopefully the process won't be too difficult to take care of...

Wow! What drama... its the story of my life. :)

2 Peas in a Pod

Yesterday, my husband turned 35, and I simply adore him. I couldn't imagine anyone more perfect for me. He is so patient with me even when I try his patience. He truly cares for me so well and sacrifices himself for me.

Our first date was in March of 2005. It was a blind date in Fredricksburg. Prior to that day, we had spent countless hours on the phone after being set up. After the first night of talking to him until four in the morning, I went to work that day and told another teacher that he was the one. (I think she thought I was crazy. :) However, on our first date I was not too impressed with Mr. Personality. He loved to tell people it was because of his tapered jeans and purple Hardin-Simmons rain jacket... this is NOT the reason I was unimpressed. On the phone, he was himself, very charming and fun, but on our first date he was nervous and very shy. I thought he was a dud and I didn't think it was going to go much farther than this.

He did call again though, and our conversations went back to the fun talks we had had before our first meeting. We had our second date in Junction, Texas in a gas station and it went great! :) The gas station had a great little barbeque restaurant and we had great conversations again. After that we spent weekend after weekend together in either San Antonio, Abilene or Dallas.

In April he decided that I was not the one and he broke it off. Then in May he realized that he had made a mistake, but at this point I was done with him. (There is funny story here but I am already getting too long winded.) In June, he came to Dallas and hung out with my friends and I. When he left, I went with two of my best friends to get ice cream and told them I didn't think I was interested in him. They told me that they thought he was great...perfect for me and I needed to wait until July...if I still felt this way then I could break it off for good. I agreed and by July I knew that we would be married. He proposed under the Century Tree at Texas A&M (also a good story that I will save for later) and we married in June of 2007.

During all of our wedding plans, my mom was an integral part of helping me get everything in order. When I was a freshman in college she had been in intensive care in critical condition with kidney failure, but the Lord had miraculously healed her and she was doing much better. She began dialysis a few years before I met DJ and had to go to treatments for 4 hours, 3 times a week... definitely not fun, but the reason she was still alive. My mom and I were very close and I spent almost everyday with her during that time before DJ and I were married. On our wedding day, she looked the best she had looked in years. Little did we know, in less than a year she would be gone. As I look back I can see the Lord's plan through it all. He gave me DJ before he brought her home to be with him. His plans are truly perfect.

By May of 2007, we had only been married about a year and my mom began the downward spiral in health. We spent our entire summer driving back and forth from Abilene to San Antonio. I truly believe that we spent more time in San Antonio than Abilene during those months from May - November. We struggled with many major decisions that most people don't have to deal with until they are much older. That May, my mom suffered a stroke. At 27 years old I was responsible for finding her a nursing home and then dealing with all the paperwork, as well as getting her moved in. I worked really hard to decorate her room so that it felt homey. They other people at the nursing home called it the "fancy room." When her mental illness (she had battled bi-polar disorder for years) became an issue and the nursing home could no longer keep her and we had to find another place for her. In addition, she began refusing to go to her dialysis treatments, which was keeping her alive. Since she was not receiving this treatment it exacerbated her mental illness greatly. Knowing that we were unable to safely care for her in our home (since we both spent our days at work) we struggled to find a place that would take her. This story has many more details than I won't elaborate on here, but the gist of it is that nursing homes would not take her because of the mental illness and mental health facilities would not take her because she was medically unstable. We finally convinced her to go with us to University Hospital because this is a hospital that cannot refuse patients. Praying that the hospital would keep her long enough to stabilize her, we sat in the emergency room for hours. Finally, it became clear to the hospital that she was not mentally competent and she received a room. What a horrible night that I will save you the details of hearing. The hospital kept her for all of July because they too could not find a facility that could care for her. She was deemed mentally incapable of making the decision to quit dialysis; however, the hospital could not force her to receive her dialysis treatments. We sat in meeting after meeting with doctors and hospital administration coming to the realization that no one was capable of helping us and that it would be just a matter of time before she died of kidney failure. In August, she was released from the hospital to a place called the Haven House for mental health patients. By October she had deteriorated greatly and needed to go into hospice care. I cannot say enough good things about hospice. She spent a few weeks of hospice in my grandmother's house and then it became neccesary to move her to a hospice facility. What an amazing place during such a difficult time. We spent the short amount of time before she passed by her bedside during the days. At this point she had become non-responsive. On November 5th, we went home for the night to get some rest and received the phone call that she had passed at 4am on November 6th (DJ's 33rd birthday). DJ and I along with my sister and her husband immediately went to her hospice room and spent about an hour by her bedside before the funeral home came to remove her body. This was a sweet time of closure for us. Later that day we had to identify the body and begin preparation for the memorial service. How difficult this was... I planned a good part of the memorial on my own. I had no idea how to do this and after the fact many people had opinions about what should have been done. I wanted to say that I would have appreciated their help then! Through it all DJ was amazing. It is so obvious to me that the Lord put him in my life at just the right time. Without my sweet husband, I have no idea how I could have made it through all of that. I am so extremely thankful for the amazing blessing of DJ in my life. Even though his 33rd birthday was a rough one to say the least, I can see what a blessing it was for her to pass on this significant day. Each year as this day passes, I can joyfully reflect on an amazing woman but also spend the day celebrating the life of the man God created me to spend my life with.