Oh, the things I've learned!

Everyone should get married! LOL! Just kidding...seriously, though! You think you have your life figured out and a good sense of self as you go along through life and then you get married...BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE! It's like taking a stroll through the DSM IV and learning that you have Dissociative Identity Disorder!!

Dissociative identity disorder (DID), also known as multiple personality disorder, is a mental disorder characterized by at least two distinct and relatively enduring identities or dissociated personality states that alternately control a person's behavior, and is accompanied by memory impairment for important information not explained by ordinary forgetfulness.

Let me just tell you! I am no stranger to this ailment! On one hand I am a rational, confident, intelligent woman. And then, in the blink of an eye, I turn into this irrational, insecure, whiny, petulant 5-yr-old who insists on getting her way no matter the cost to the people around her.  (I refer to her in 3rd person b/c I refuse to accept her as a true part of me!)  My family would probably disagree with me, but I like to think that the first one is my true personality and the other is some by-product of not getting enough rest!

In all sincerity, I recognize that the 5-yr-old is a part of me and she does not know how to rationalize and gets her feelings hurt very easily and it has taken quite the learning curve to talk her out her tantrums at times! When she gets worked up b/c of some perceived slight or she's tired or b/c something didn't go her way, she can turn into this little ball of venomous acid that festers in my heart and comes out in one of two forms: a raging maniac spewing her venom at whomever may be in her path (usually, Andy), or the ice queen who shuts everyone one out and freezes anyone who comes into contact with her (usually, Andy).  NOT GOOD, people! NOT GOOD!  I am blessed to have a husband who is so patient with me and understands me enough to give me space when I'm working to calm her down and the armor in place to withstand her when she lashes out or freezes him out. (Thankfully, I'm able to talk her down 98% of the time and she's only unleashed one him a couple of times!)

When they say marriage is hard work, they weren't kidding! I am hard work, people! Andy has had to make so many adjustments while learning to live with me! The man is a saint! LOL!  The more I look back at who I was before and who I am now, I am beyond grateful that God knew me so well that he made my man perfectly suited for my strengths and weaknesses! Talk about a refining fire for Andy!

So here's my list of things I have learned about myself over this past year as a result of our marriage:

1. I had latent Martha Stewart tendencies and they flourished under the right environmental circumstances; marriage. Who knew?! The semi-lazy tomboy in me has faded to the background a bit and Type-A Holly Homemaker has come out in full force!

2. I love to cook! (This is totally separate from the latent Martha Stewart tendency.)  I will look at my pantry, see what's available, and produce something I never would have dreamed of making for myself in a million years.  But I'll plate it and 9 times out of 10, Andy loves it! (There have been a few food bombs sprinkled throughout the year...which he still eats and, thanks me!)

3. I am more financially responsible that I ever thought possible for myself!  Dave Ramsey would label me the nerd of our relationship.  I never dreamed that I could manage our finances on any level, let alone manage to keep track of them like I have. Andy and I make quite the team trying to keep everything balanced and juggled as well as we have!

4. There are actual maternal instincts buried deep within me that are moving to the surface.  Having Diesel in my life was a definite step in the right direction to having kids. If you can manage to keep a dog alive and healthy then you are headed in the right direction for having a child!

5. Finally, I still have a lot of growing up to do! Who knew!? (Probably my parents!)  After being single for so long, I had become very selfish and expected things to be a certain way (my way, of course) and that's just how it worked. That is not the case when you have another person in your life for whom you are responsible.  I may not feel like making Andy dinner one night, but he has worked a long shift and probably has not had the opportunity to have a proper meal all day. So I have to put my big-girl panties on and make him dinner b/c he needs it!  He depends on me for it and I've committed to take care of him whether that little 5-yr-old in me feels like it that day or not!

Growing pains? Maybe. But here's the thing: I love Andy.  I love taking care of him.  I love that Yahweh reminds me everyday of the blessing He gave me in Andy.  I love that Andy is the kind of man that thanks me for taking care of him.  I love that he puts up with the 'crazy'.  I love that he makes me smile just thinking about him.  I love that he goes to a job everyday (whether he likes his job or not), in order to provide for our family.  I am proud to be his wife. I am proud to stand next to him and watch him charm people around him.  I am proud of the man he is and the man he's striving to be.  I am proud that he longs to have a better relationship with Yahweh and to know Him better.

Andy sharpens me almost everyday and challenges me to be a better person; whether he realizes it or not! Is everything perfect? NOPE! But it sure is interesting! And the more I learn about myself, the more I thank Yahweh for giving me Andy who complements all parts of me; good and bad.

Yahweh is good! All the time! (Even/especially when the 5-yr-old in me is not!)

Isaac...and then some! (complete with pictures!)

Please don't judge me! (or Andy, for that matter!) We kinda feel like we missed out on something by not experiencing Isaac firsthand.  I know! I know! It's warped.  A lot of people, like us, evacuated and were determined to make the best of the situation by considering it a HURRICATION. I mean, Isaac was only supposed to be an interruption in our week.  Boy was it not!

I did my normal grocery shopping on Saturday. On Sunday, our pastor mentioned the possibility of having to evacuate. Andy and I were so not prepared for that possibility! Thankfully, Chad coached us on evacuating after the service; he told us to stock up on water, grab a cooler, and fill up the truck just in case we did have to evacuate.  Thankfully, due to shopping at Winn Dixie, we had built up some gas credits and wound up saving a $1.05 per gallon of gas (which was over $20 savings)!
We didn't really start packing that day because we had already planned to have friends over for dinner and we decided to honor that time.  This was good b/c it was a really great time of fellowship and just hanging out, making new friends.
The next day was a whole new story! The campus administration was trying to determine if they were going to cancel classes, have a mandatory evacuation, or whathaveyou based on the mayor's position and how Isaac was tracking.  The rest of us were on pins and needles trying to determine our next move. For Andy and I it boiled down to whether or not his dealership was going to close; if they didn't, we weren't going anywhere.  Turns out, Andy came home early that day b/c he was in a lot of pain and they were closing until Thursday.  By that time, the seminary had also decided to close until Thursday. Suzanne let me bug out early and the race was on! We had already decided that if we were bugging out (aka: evacuating), that we would leave at 8 p.m. to avoid some traffic. I say 'some' b/c avoiding traffic overall was not a possibility.
Packing quickly became interesting b/c Andy had a pinched nerve in his back and was unable to bend, twist, or move quickly. The poor thing was relegated to resting on a heating pad! If you know me at all, you know that I had my list of things that absolutely had to be done before we left and I made quick work of busting my way through it! Thankfully, I had not had time to do laundry so packing our suitcase only took 5 minutes! LOL! The rest was stuffed into the laundry baskets in the hopes that my mom would let us do laundry (which, of course she did!).  Also, even though we expected to be gone for only a few days, we were asked to either take everything with us or get it ready to be disposed of in case of a long-term power failure.

                                          
SO, having just grocery shopped, I asked a friend to come over and help me pack up the fridge into our two coolers.  Turns out, not a wholly bad idea! I was able to purge some old stuff and clean it out (after we got back, of course!).  Props to Isaac for forcing me to clean out my fridge!
In the midst of all of this my knee started to flare up which makes it night impossible to make it up and down three flights of stairs alone, much less carrying anything.  Thankfully, I called for backup and they were awesome! I owe Dean, Krissy, and Laura BIG TIME!  They hauled everything down for us and then hauled our bikes up so they wouldn't become weapons to wreak havoc. We covered the entertainment center with the comforter, unplugged everything, and left our home for who-knew how long. It was a bit rough for me b/c, although I know things can always be replace, this is our first home.  The chances of our things being damaged were minimal b/c we are on the 3rd floor, but Isaac had too many surprises to be sure of anything.  So we headed out of campus, topped off the tank, had a quick bite to eat, and headed out on the road into a gorgeous sunset!

They were in a hurry!

The trip up was relatively uneventful, which is a good thing!  We passed 3 National Guard convoys headed the other way to help out wherever they were called to help.  It was so cool to know that our city was in such good hands (and so many hands!).  Andy was only able to manage the 2 hours to Lafayette before his back flared up and we switched. We got to my parents' house at precisely 4 am; one whole hour before we expected to arrive!  Mom and I unpacked the coolers while Andy went to lay down.  Now you'd think, at this point, we would be completely exhausted and ready to crash, hard.  This was not the case! It took us almost 2 hours to fall asleep! OY! Thankfully, my parents were gracious and let us sleep in!
The first part of the week was spent resting, watching the weather channel, looking for updates from the campus and Ford, and enjoying having no responsibilities! I even got the opportunity to detail the inside of our XTerra (which was so desperately needed!).  Mom and dad took such great care of us and spoiled us with attention and food and LOVE!  It was restful and we both got some medical attention we needed as well as time to unwind and relax.  Wednesday night, my sweet friend Shellie had come to visit since she was only 2 hours away in Dallas! It was so good to see someone from home!  We only had a little time to catch up, but it was sweet and made me realize how much I missed her! Hopefully, we'll be able to follow through with plans for New Years!!!

Mom n me catchin some rays!

By Friday, we were anxiously looking for updates about whether or not it was okay to return, how our friends who'd had stayed were, and what was going on with Veteran's Ford. One of Andy's customers bought a car "from him" that day, even though the dealership wasn't officially open! LOL! (Hey, I'm not complaining! It's income!)  We finally decided to head home Sunday morning whether we got the go ahead from the campus or not. We figured the dealership would be open for the Monday holiday and Andy needed to get back to work.  Saturday morning we had breakfast at a sweet diner.  I had been craving waffles, so I ordered one and got a fun surprise! And then, after a futile first attempt to get their boat in the water, mom and dad treated us to an afternoon tour of Lake Palestine. Man, it was beautiful! What a gorgeous place to live!
After our afternoon in the refreshing sun and wind, a trip to Dallas was in order to reconnect with Andy's friends Saturday night, James and Stephanie! They treated us to a great Mediterranean dinner and fun was had by all! It did Andy's heart so much good to connect with old friends who are basically family and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them!

(Don't let the picture fool you! He was HUGE!)

The fun continued on the way home after we switched drivers in Canton! I was going along peacefully down the 2-lane road at the speed limit (No, really! It was way too dark to be speeding!) and then, from seemingly nowhere, a Texas hog came trotting across the highway! I actually came within a split-second of hitting him!  And to make matters worse, there was an on-coming car I also had to avoid! There had not been a car on the road for quite some time.  Andy had fallen asleep so when I jerked to the right, he flew up and kept telling me I was okay and that I'd done great. It scared the bajeebers out of me! Thankfully, we'd made it home safely and without further incident!
The next morning we got up 'early' and repacked the coolers, the truck, our freshly cleaned laundry (THANKS, MOM!!!), and new stack of books (THANKS, DAD!!!).  It was tougher than I thought it would be to say good-bye.  We had thoroughly enjoyed our time with them, but were anxious to get home and get back to work...but, I hate saying goodbye to my parents!  I know, I'm a baby.  Correction: I am the baby, so it's okay for me! ;)

It got much worse!

Andy drove the whole way home and the only detour we had to take was already planned due to the flooding in La Place (west of the city). We ended up taking the north route to the North Shore and came down on the Causeway.  It was relatively uneventful except for the love bug massacre that was taking place all around us.  We had to pull over at one point to wash the windshield b/c Andy could barely see out it anymore! Then it started to rain right along with the bugs! So for a short time we had water and bugs slapping into the windshield! LOL!  The trip over the Causeway was eerie b/c we only saw one boat on the ENTIRE lake! The water was riddled with tree debris, but it was so placid that it was just surreal.  I've never seen a lake that large be so flat; especially in the middle.  A quick tour of some of our surrounding neighborhoods showed mostly tree debris being collected or trees being mulched b/c they had been uprooted. The same was true for the campus. There were shutters ripped off, several large trees had fallen, and there was tree debris everywhere but the power was back on and we were good to move back in!

Security hazard for the campus...

All in all, it wasn't a bad experience! But then, we didn't stay to ride it out.  Many of our friends and neighbors lost part if not all of the food from the power outage.  There were at least 3 deaths related to Isaac.  Hundreds of thousands were without power for days.  Hundreds of people lost everything.  We feel blessed to only have lost a week of work and part of our food.
This was an adventure we hope we don't have to repeat too many times, and we are thankful that both of our parents were able to support us and that our friends and family were praying us through the week!