Our Story

Our wedding day, June 3, 2000

Our 10 year anniversary was on June 3. It has been great, good, bad and worse. We have been through some difficult times. We have had some wonderful times. I am two years older than Brandon, and felt that sometimes he may have married me because I "talked" him into it. I now know that it was God's plan. We dated for about a year and a half. I am a Christian and thought Brandon was at this time. He had always been in church and I had not. I thought I had asked him if he was saved. Maybe I just assumed he was since he had always gone to church.

After 9/11 my thoughts began to change about family. I had an urgency to start a family. I'm not really sure why. Like I said, I was a Christian, but not the Christian I should have been. I didn't read my Bible or pray like I should. I basically went to church. God had a plan. He allowed Brandon to walk into my life and allowed us to conceive a little boy only after trying for one month. God knew what he was doing. I thought I knew what we were suppose to do. As Connor reached one I noticed that Brandon and I seemed to be slipping farther away. He loves to hunt. That was his passion. He went EVERY weekend. I enjoyed hunting as well but once becoming a mother I didn't want to go anymore. I somehow thought that when he became a father he would want to spend his extra time with his family. We had reached a low. I knew divorce wasn't the answer but at the time it was MY answer. I couldn't take it any longer. I told him I didn't want to be married to him any longer. I didn't want to waste these years of my life on a man that could care less if I was at home doing everything in the world for him and his child. I went to a counselor by myself. He didn't want to go with me. It was a lady counselor. We talked and I told her what was going on. She suggested that maybe my husband was doing drugs!!! Say what??? No, I absolutely knew in my heart that he had not ever and was not currently using drugs. Let's just say I got out of there as fast as I could. I came home and told him what she had said and he told me no that he had never used drugs and had never drank, nor smoked his entire life. I knew that. Brandon is a good guy. He works and works hard. He doesn't drink, smoke, do drugs, doesn't party, doesn't hang out with the guys. Anyway, that night, Brandon cried like I have never seen a man cry. I told him I couldn't do it anymore. He told me that if he couldn't have me in his life, he needed God. WHAT???? He needed God- he already had God in his life or so I thought. Brandon had never been saved. After hearing that I knew that was the reason for our fights and dying marriage. It didn't have God in it completely. That Sunday he went to the alter and asked God into his heart forever and was baptized the next Sunday. I have never been so proud in my life. We began to have the marriage we were suppose to have.

As time went on though, we began to grow apart again. He still hunted but didn't go on Sundays. He was in church with me on Sundays. Our marriage grew weaker and weaker by the day. By this time, we now have had Karlea. We have become members of a new church with wonderful, Godly people. I knew that he was saved now and had no biblical reason for divorce as neither of us had committed adultery. I hated being in the same room as him. I hated for him to touch me, to even look at me made me want to vomit. I didn't know why. He just irritated me. I now know it was the devil. I went to a lawyer to find out what I needed to do. This is what most people don't know. I have a friend that has been my friend for more than 16 years. He is male. Brandon knew of my friend but didn't know that we had kept in contact over the years. Nothing had ever been said about anything happening between us because I am married. But for some reason, this time was different. My friend told me that I needed to lose my husband and get on with my life. The devil was using my friend to put more doubt into my head. As I realized what was happening, so did Brandon. He confronted me about my friend. I was honest with him. I told him that we had talked to each other for 16 years and nothing had ever happened between us. I knew divorce wasn't the right thing to do but I didn't care. I didn't care if I disobeyed God. God had another plan. God put a wonderful pastor, pastor's wife and other wonderful friends in our paths just at the right time. Thankfully, our pastor talked with Brandon several times during this time and told him to be strong and not to leave. I'm so glad. One Saturday night, Brandon told me that he loved me and he would forgive me for talking with my friend about things that I should've been talking to him about. Brandon should've been my best friend. At the time, he wasn't. This guy was. I thought what I was doing was innocent enough and was ok. It was wrong. I no longer have contact with my friend. At that moment I realized that if Brandon loved me enough to forgive me then he truly loved me. I had let him down this time. I deeply hurt him. I just pray that if there's someone out there reading this that is going through something like this or whatever it may be, just put it in God's hands. He always takes care of his children if you just do what the Bible says. Plain and simple. I hope that if God isn't your main priority and your spouse second that you make a change. It's hard to do when you have children and live in the world we live in but it's the right way. I hope that everyone reading this will forgive me as well. Sometimes we go through things, first for God to get the glory and honor he deserves. Secondly to make us stronger in Him and in ourselves. Thirdly, to help others.

Malchi 2:16 "I hate divorce , says the Lord God of Israel". Pretty plain and simple.

Family Pictures

Connor riding the waves!

Karlea and her dad playing in the pool.

More like Karlea playing and daddy working. :)

The wonderful family picture that would've been great had it not been so dark and Connor not crossing his eyes. Geez!

They can be sweet when they want. :)




Naturally, we took pictures while at the beach. I knew some of them would be awful because I caught Connor crossing his eyes in some with his sister. So I get home to look through them so I can update our family picture. NOT ONE SINGLE PICTURE IS GOOD!!! Come on Connor. If it wasn't him with his eyes crossed, it was Karlea making a crazy smile or looking off into the wild blue yonder. We waited a little to late, so it was getting too dark. But I thought what the heck we'll take them anyway. We had one family picture that was descent, but it was too dark and made it look grainy. I'm hoping that my sister-in-law has some of us that are good. If not I guess we'll just be taking pictures here at the house where it's hot and humid. Maybe this time they'll cooperate so they won't have to be in the heat.

Been a while!

Well it's been about a year since my last post. Everyone seemed to be doing the facebook thing, instead of blogging, so I did as well. Well, my husband hates facebook so I decided for the sake of our marriage and his health I would not get on it anymore. I do, however, get on it every once in a while without him knowing.

Anywho, we've all had a pretty good year. Connor made it through first grade with all A's. He's so smart, sometimes too smart for his own good. He is so funny. Sometimes when he's in trouble he will say something or do something that is so funny that I totally forget to punish him. I think he knows it and does it on purpose.

Karlea enjoyed her Preschool class at First Baptist. She learned so much. I had been worrying about her because I had spent so much time helping Connor with homeowrk that I didn't work with her very much at all. I was worried that at 31/2 she didn't know how to spell her name or recognize letters until one day out of the blue, she spelled her name. I was amazed. I had not taught her that. What a wonderful teacher she has. Ms. Kim is awesome. She not only knew the letters of her name, the alphabet, but could write her name at 31/2. Connor was right at 4 before he wrote his name. She is very smart as well. It amazes me that small children soak up everything you say just like a sponge. So remember, just as we do, whatever you say or do is soaked up along with the good.

Brandon and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary on June 3. I don't know how in the world we made it but we did. It's been a long, tough road. Nobody told me that it would be so much work. Nobody told me it wouldn't be the fairy tale that I had imagined for myself. It's been quite the opposite. Why is it that once kids enter the picture everything seems so much harder? Why had no one told me this or prepared me? My mom only had me and made it look so easy. She was a stay at home mom and did everything for everyone. She was always there and took me to all the softball and cheerleading practices and events, Beta Club events, etc. She made it look so easy. I guess she was happy. She never complained, or I never saw or heard her. My mom was 20 when she had me. Wow! I wanted to be just like her. I'm so glad I didn't. I was nowhere near mature enough to have a child at 20, much less 25 when I had Connor. When I think about it, I'm a big baby. Do any of you feel that way sometimes? I guess I'm doing a pretty good job as a mother. My then 6 year old little boy accepted Jesus into his heart and life. He's so compassionate. He may just be a preacher when he's older. I would be so proud. Karlea is a sweet, loving little girl. She loves Jesus too, and loves church. So I guess if I look at all we have accomplished I have done a descent job. We will see what the next 10 years holds.

Sweet Babies

Easter 2010