A Magnolia's Heart Beats

Chelsey, our hostess, writes, "So.... today is an opportunity to talk about "you" and who you are. Share anything you want. If you'd like you can even share pictures and/or video. Give us a glimpse into your life and let's take our "community" to the next level today."

Here are a few things about me, as if you didn't learn enough Friday.

1. I love being a Christian.

2. I am totally in love with God's Word.

3. I love teaching other women what I have learned from God's Word.

4. I am not ashamed of being a Christian.

5. I try not to be judgemental but I fail sometimes.

6. My husband rocks. He is so handsome and loves me so much. He treats me better than I deserve and I love being his wife. He is very handy around the house and I admire that trait in him. He can do anything he sets his mind to. He's very compassionate and loves his family so much. He is a great father to Kristyn and Paw Paw to the boys.

7. When I married I had an instant family. Steve had custody of his daughter, Kristyn, who was 6 at the time. She lived with us and visited her Mom mostly every other weekend and sometimes longer during holidays starting about age 8. Tabitha, Kristyn's mother, is a strong woman of faith and is a great mother. I feel priveleged to be a bonus mom to Kristyn and truly enjoyed having a hand in raising her.

8. I love my son-in-love, Corey. He is a great husband and father and a hard worker.

9. I love my grandsons Nolan and Liam. Nolie is 19 months and Li Li is 7 months. They are quite the handful but nothing beats cuddling and snuggling with them. I don't even mind having strained broccoli sneezed on me. We laugh like there's no tomorrow with those boys.

10. I never thought my heart could be so full of love for my family. Just when I think it's full, something makes it expand.

11. I have three chronic illnesses. I have been treated for depression since I was 9 years old. I am still being treated today and it is under control. I also have IBS and fibromyalgia. I wish I could say they were under control. The first one is for the most part. The second one seems to be controlled dominately by the weather and stress or fatigue.

12. I work outside the home. I love my job. I begin my 20th year in October and should be about 44 when I can retire. I hope not to retire until I am 50. That being said, I think things would have been best if I had stopped working when Steve and I married so I could have been there for Kristyn after school and during holidays. I'm not knocking day cares, but I just wish I had been there to work with her more so she would have spent less time watching television and we could have had more time on homework, practical life, etc.

13. I need a refill on my coffee.

14. I learned alot about forgiveness from my grandmother. I recently put what she shared with me a year before she had Alzheimer's into practice a couple of weeks ago.

15. I don't consider myself a superstitious person, but please don't open an umbrella in the house, walk under a ladder or sing at the table around me. Broken mirrors do not bother me, nor do black cats crossing my path, but the others do. I don't know why.

16. I am an avid reader. I love to read. I could read for hours at a time if I had the chance.

17. I have a toy poodle named Wilson. He was named after the ball on Castaway because he helped us through a really hard time after we lost Copper, our ten year old toy poodle. Wilson is 4 years old now and is a mess. He is so quirky and funny.

18. My uncle has had several reoccurences of malignant melanoma and is currently being treated at M. D. Anderson for this bout. He's doing great! The last update sounded good. Susan wrote: "We've had a good day. Dr. Kim came by to see us this morning. He was well-pleased with our night also. "So far, so good", he said. They had talked to us a good bit yesterday about Jimmy trying to get up and move around some today. They want him to keep his strength. Well, you know that determination we've talked about. We were able to walk three different times today. He can't leave the floor, so we made 5 laps around the nurses station each time and walked down the hall several times. The nausea and fever have been under control today and no chills since this morning. The only thing that is happening right now is some swelling/puffiness due to fluid retention and his skin is turning red. We were expecting it though so it's not a shock. Hopefully this will go down before we return home. One of the drugs is causing both of these effects and we'll be finished with it Tuesday. Please continue to pray specifically that these drugs will work with Jimmy's body. I'll leave you with one of the most encouraging statements that we've heard today. When the doctor was leaving the room Jimmy told him that he was ready to whip this. He looked back at Jimmy with clear confidence, pointed his finger and said, "Yes, we are!" God uses these doctors to do the research and give the medicines but He heals the bodies."

19. My verse for the year is Colossians 4:2 - "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful."

20. My little sister is a mother now. Baby Ethan was born last August and is just as cute as he can be. I don't get to see them as much as I'd like but Jenn and I talk on the phone almost every day.

21. My Momma and Daddy are awesome. I love them both so much.

22. I am terrified of elephants.

23. I am a middle child, I love sweet tea, I am from and live in Mississippi, I never went to college, my favorite subject was English Lit, I love to write, I enjoy watching NCIS, I like Law & Order, too, I enjoy listening to Christian music and podcasts on my iPod, and I love good quotes.

24. Oh! My best friend is like a sister to me. When she came to the hospital when Daddy had his pacemaker done he said, "All my girls are here." That was me, Momma, my sister, and Harriett. Daddy asks after her all the time. She was out last week and he was concerned about her. He works part-time on contract (back from retirement) and missed seeing her.

25. Anything else you'd like to know, ask. I'm pretty much an open book!