Finals are over!

So its been awhile since I have posted anything on here. I really wish I could keep this up to date. I am gonna try. So this past week has been crazy. I forgot what it was like to be in school. I had four exams to study for and four papers to write all at the same time. Ahh!! So with only one paper left to turn in, my nerves are beginning to calm down. If I did well on my exams (and I believe I did), then I probably made all A's!! It has been a long time...but thats what studying gets you (took me a few years out of school to realize that B's can easily be A's with a little bit of studying:)!Well I know this is a short post, but I hope it explains why I have not blogged in a while. I will post more tomorrow.

Heres my puppy:)

Roxy Mayble Bates/ Born August 06, 2006/Weight: 104lbs./ Great Dane-Bull Mastif mix

(Kev wouldnt let me have Mayble as a possible name for our girls one day...so I gave it to

our dog)

We got Roxy in October from a girl who couldnt spend that much time with her. I was so skeptical about getting a dog because I didnt feel like we would be home enough. Kevin really wanted her and now I am completely smitten! We joke about who she loves more (me of course:) She has been such a joy in our lives and in the lives of others. She absolutely loves people.

Roxy loves to ride in the back seat of our car. This is on the way to her play date with Caesar.

Roxy is a big dog, but Caesar (a great dane) stands on his hind legs at over 6 ft tall. We take Roxy to play with him in abandoned soccer field. This day they played for an hour sliding around in mud puddles and then she couldnt walk very well for about 2 days because her muscles were so sore.

She loves to sit in my lap. I dont really know how this started, but I think its cute:)

An amazing story

Kevin preached this sermon a week before Valentines day...



Some of you may remember the terrible train wreck in Glendale, CA on Jan. 26, 2005...two weeks before Valentines Day.



The incident is notable for its magnitude, involving two passenger trains, a freight train, and a jeep grand cherokee abandoned on the tracks by Juan Manuel Alvarez. Authorities initially said Alvarez was planning to commit suicide and charged him with 11 counts of murder with "special circumstances." Police say recent investigations indicate Alvarez may have intended to cause the crash without committing suicide.



There was a man on that train named John Phipps.

In what he thought was his last hours, he scrawled this letter in his own blood on one of the train doors: I (heart) my kids, I (heart) Leslie.






John Phipps survived the crash and later this train door was presented to his family.



Kevin applied this to believers. We have a savior who wrote our names in the book of life with his own blood. The greatest sacrifice....the greatest message of love!

Valentines Day

So Valentines Day is not something we celebrate on a regular basis. Not because we dont want to...sometimes things just get in the way. I actually dont mind this too much because I, like some, feel that everyday could be a Valentines day (although some times Feb. 14th gives my husband the extra push to do something romantic:)

This was our cabin at Oakhaven Resort.

This Feb. 14th we were driving a van full of overly energetic teens to Gatlinburg, TN for a youth rally. We arrived at our beautiful cabins (which I highly recommend to anyone wanting a nice winter getaway) in Sevierville, TN around midnight. The kids are getting settled in upstairs and I make one last trip to let them know to that we didnt care how late they stayed up, but that they needed to keep the noise level down. When I walked into our room (this year we got the master bedroom because we were the only adults...whoo hoo), Kevin had a candle lit. I thought that maybe it had been in the room, but Kevin it explained that he got it for me. I thought this was so sweet!! He had planned in advance! I walked back out of the room again and when I came back, I smelled something different. I thought maybe it was the candle or the fresh linens but as I crawled into bed it was much stronger. It smelled familiar. Kevin had bought me ROMANCE and sprayed it on my pillow. How thoughtful was that!! I love him! So that was our Valentines day!

Newbie Blogger

So I absolutely love reading my friends blogs....but I just havent had the desire to do one of my own. I didnt think I really had anything exciting to write about, but the truth is...I have many things exciting to write about...I just dont know how to creatively write or display "my life". Nevertheless, I am gonna give it a shot. Be patient with me as I attempt to put my thoughts in writing while trying to entertain the readers (all 2 of you:)