Some fun randomness from a random game...Quelf. In case you are new to our blog, this game is our new addiction and the two people in the first video are the suppliers to our need.
Ventriloquist Akers
Multicultural Quelf
Yoga Master Ryan
For Sarah's birthday, I got her two tickets to the Fox to see the "Radio City Musical Hall Christmas Spectacular". It was pretty much awesome. We don't normally get to dress up and go out, so this was great for my baby girl's birthday, even though we had to fight traffic and crappy weather to get there. I will post more later, got some things on my mind to blabber on about later, but what else are blogs for...right?!?
I have read this poem several times before, but every time I read it, I get tears in my eyes. I know that I am a little partial to this, but I am so proud of my soldier and for the sacrifices he has made to protect our freedom. Right now there are so many soldiers who are away from their families for this holiday season, so never forget the sacrifices that they are making for you!
The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
" So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."
So I am about 20 hours away from seeing Mark. I will be on my way to Fort Riley, KS in the morning. It is 8:30pm right now, and I don't think I will be getting much sleep tonight. I am so excited to finally see him again! Thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout this deployment. It means so much to me to have such an amazing group of friends to surround me and take care of me while Mark has been away! I love all of you guys!!
This past weekend, I escaped to Kirksville, MO, where my grandpa lives. I love going to my grandpa's farm. Of course, this weekend was deer season, so all my uncles and cousins were there hunting. This was my uncle's gun, that I just had to try out. Everyone was laughing at me cause I still had my purse on my arm.
Once a month my friend Taylor Akers and I do a grocery shopping trip. I have just finally perfected the art of stretching things, and now with my husband coming home, I am going to have to relearn it all over again. So, we may need to recruit more shoppers!!! Here is the result of our trip.
It has been a crazy life!! We are less than a week away from Mark being home!! So one day next week I will be on my way to Fort Riley to get him and bring him home. I can't even believe how fast this year has gone by. It's been a pretty stressful week, so I am headed out of town for some much needed R&R.
This video made me laugh so much!!! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!! Even if you don't like cats, I hope it makes you laugh!
So are you a "Christian" or a Christ follower? I am sure you have seen the Mac vs. PC advertisements, well these are remakes of those commercials. These videos are hilarious, but a very true depiction of how our society stereotypes a "Christian." Enjoy!
So I bought a futon for our guest bedroom last night. I was determined to set it up. So I did, all by myself. It was a very long process, but I managed to stick with it until the job was complete. Here is the finished product!
Mark loves to spoil me! Here is a bouquet of flowers that he sent me today. He is such a sweetheart!! 
This is Mark (on the right) and SPC Hartman (on the left) working hard in their plywood building in Iraq. Hartman is one of the soldiers that Mark is in charge of.
This is a joke that was in the weekly newsletter that I get from Mark's company. I thought I would share it.
Four strangers traveled together in the same compartment of a European train. Two men and two women faced each other. One woman was a very wealthy and sophisticated 70 year old lady who was decked out in the finest of furs and jewelry. Next to her Sat a beautiful young woman,
nineteen years old--who looked like something right off the cover of a fashion magazine. Across from the older lady was a very mature looking man in his mid-forties who was a highly decorated Sergeant Major in the Army. Next to the Sergeant Major sat a young private fresh out of boot camp.
As these four strangers traveled, they talked and chatted about trivial things until they entered an unlighted tunnel, and there they sat in complete darkness and total silence, until the sound of a distinct kiss broke the silence; following the kiss a loud slap could be heard throughout the cabin.
In the ensuing period of silence the four strangers sat quietly with their own thoughts.
The older lady was thinking, “Isn’t it wonderful that even in this permissive day and age there are still young women who have a little self-respect and dignity?”
The young woman, shaking her head and greatly puzzled, asked herself, “Why in the world would any man in his right mind want to kiss an old fossil like that when I’m sitting here?”
The Sergeant Major, rubbing his sore face, was outraged that any woman could ever think that a man in his position would try to sneak a kiss in the dark.
The private, grinning from ear to ear, was thinking, “What a wonderful world this is when a private can kiss the back of his hand and then smack a Sergeant Major in the face and get away with it!”
So I got this whim to cut my hair. And when I want it cut, I usually just get the normal trim. Well this time I got the itch to do something completely different. So here it is.
