I know this sounds cheesy we bought a webcam yesterday! lol... Our mac computer is kind of old so it doesn't have the camera installed like the new ones, and my mom and his dad have new macs so we wanted to be able to chat with them LIVE once we move!!

We set up the camera last night and visited with Randy and Linda (Mike's dad and step-mom) last night and it was so much fun! I think they were really surprised at how much better it was than even talking on the phone! I'm so excited about being able to SEE them while we talk! I think it will help a lot with helping me not be as homesick. So, anyone who has ichat using aim, or I think you can with regular aim, let me know! We can chat LIVE too!

I'm beginning to prepare to move in a nesting type of way! lol...I hope to use birthday money to get a new digital camera (ours is M.I.A.) so I can send lots of pics of our new home and fun experiences (Mike going to the beach for the 1st time) home to everyone! I've also added a digital camcorder to my Christmas wish list so that I'll have it for when we have kids!! I don't usually have anything I want for Christmas so my family will be glad that I have something on my wish list this early!!

In the HOME STRETCH!!

It is not a secret that I haven't enjoyed living in our apartment from Day One...and guess what! The feeling has not changed! lol...we will finish up our packing tonight (or maybe tomorrow right before the movers show up) and I'm not really sad AT ALL! I've shed an inner tear when we left other places we've lived because they've had some effect on me but not apartment 242...Good riddance!

Have you ever been glad to see the end of something...the end of a job? the end of a relationship? the end of a residence? Please share...

Well, the time has finally come for us to know for sure if Mike will be a full-time youth pastor...

...with an almost unanimous vote, Mike was hired as the new youth pastor at First Baptist Church in Beeville!! We had such a great weekend and met some wonderful people. Although we are always sad about leaving our friends and family in West Texas, we are super excited about this part of our journey!

Mike's first official day will be October 16 (my birthday!) so we will be leaving Midland Monday, October 13...that gives us 3 full weeks here to say goodbye! We are moving out of our apartment this weekend and will be staying with our AMAZING friends, the Swanson family until we leave on the 13th. We have SO much to do this week to get out of our apartment but are hoping to have a little free time once October starts.

We are getting close to knowing where we'll live and I'll share that once it is more official. We REALLY want to have TONS of visitors so PLEASE let us know if you want to come visit!! We have a spare room and would love to see ya!

On a "how's Mike" note, he is doing so well in regards to his pancreas! He hasn't had any problems and will go back October 2 for his stint to be removed and for them to check out his pancreas. Unfortunately, he did get sick with bronchitis last week and was sick this weekend...but he did great speaking with everyone and sharing his testimony in church! He's been to the doctor and is on his way to being better!

So, I'm sitting here waiting on Mike to pick me up...I never thought this week would end!! It's about time! We are headed to Beeville for things to become official...the church will vote Sunday morning on hiring Mike so when we head home, we'll know if we are moving in a few weeks.

We'll be doing several things while we are there...looking at a possible rent house to live in until we can buy our FIRST HOUSE and meeting with a potential future employer for me!! YEA!

It is so crazy how things get built up in our heads...we are filled with anticipation, aren't we? When I read Molly's blog, she reminds me of the anticipation of getting married. MAN! That was such a great time of anticipation! and Kate...she was getting ready to make a move across town for the 1st time in 8 years! I haven't lived in one place much longer than 8 months since I moved out of my dad's house! lol...

There is always anticipation in our lives and I think that's good. I think our lives should change and things should be different but if you aren't able to enjoy your life the way it is...to be content...you shouldn't anticipate something new happening! Have a great weekend!

Well, I'm sure you all thought I'd already forgotten about my blog! Since that seems to happen once things settle...but, things aren't quite settled!

Mike is feeling REALLY WELL and will be venturing to work tomorrow. We are finally sleeping through the night...the first few nights home were rough! I know you are all about Beeville so here's the latest!

We are headed back this weekend (September 20 and 21) for the official "in-view-of-a-call." For those non-Baptists (or Baptist that don't know this lingo), this will be where the church votes on hiring Mike. They will have a meet and greet time on Saturday for the church members to come meet us. On Sunday, Mike will give his testimony during the morning service. Following the service, the church will vote and we will know before we leave church Sunday morning! We are so excited!!

I have a lead on a job but won't say much until I know more. I'm hoping to have an "unofficial" interview this weekend. We'll see!

Just a quick post to let you all know that we are back!!

West Texas here we come!!!

Mike is in the process of being discharged!! We changed our flight to an earlier flight we we'll be home by the time everyone gets off work!

Thank you all for keeping up with us during all of this! He'll have to come back in 3-4 weeks to have the stint they did get inserted taken out but other than that, he is doing great!!

See you all soon!

Also...below is the verse of the day waiting in my email inbox...God continues to be good to us even in situations that may not seem good. We are thankful for every situation God brings us through!

"The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. " Lamentations 3:25

Well, we ended up staying over the weekend so they could monitor Mike a little more...he finally got to eat solid food!!! YEA!! The dr. said his CAT Scan showed the cyst has drained A LOT and he wanted to give the cyst more time to drain. He should be removing the cathedars before we head home which is a HUGE blessing!! Neither of us were excited about having to take care of them!!

My sister came to visit this weekend!!! We didn't have much time together but the time we did have was much needed! We spent time playing cards and beating Mike! lol...fun stuff... Mike couldn't let me take a pic without "waving" to everyone!

As everyone would guess, Mike has been doing his card tricks for all the nurses!! After several days of doing them in his room, we were passing the nurse's desk when a past nurse that didn't get to see the tricks said she heard he did card tricks!! Of course, that opened the door for him to do a few!! They were AMAZED! At one point, he had 4 nurses watching a a doctor watched from far away...his nurse ended up taking his vitals while we were standing there! :) He was pretty pooped after standing for a while to do the card tricks though. That was after we went downstairs to play cards at an open sitting area!

We hope to hear from Dr. T soon! We know everything is looking good...just not sure if they are good enough to get discharged today!

Oh!! AMAZING news on Ryan...he got moved to a regular bed (I think on Friday) and was told he'd get to go home sooner than expected! I don't know any details...with Angela and I both at hospitals, we've been communicating as much as possible through texts but it is tough! PRAISE GOD that Ryan is doing well!!!!

In case you forgot what we looked like...here we are!! Now, keep in mind that we've been away from home 15 days as of today and at the hospital/hospital hotel for 10 of those days!!

It was brought to my attention yesterday that I should explain the cathedars that were inserted into Mike's abdomen. They are not the same cathedars they use for bladder purposes. I took a few pictures to show everyone what they look like. If you have a weak stomach...you may not want to look!! I'll put them at the bottom of the posting.

Good news!! Mike should be getting discharged either today or tomorrow!! We'll spend a night the day he is discharged and then fly home the next day!! He is about to have another CAT Scan done to see how much the cyst has decreased since the cathedars were inserted. Also, Dr. T tried to do a scope to see if his pancreas was damaged and needed to be operated on...things were still too tight with the cyst in there for him to see the pancreas. We will have to come back in 3-6 weeks to have the cathedars removed and he will look at the pancreas then. By that point, the cyst should be drained. Good news though...Dr. T said the fluid that is draining does not look like it is coming from the pancreas which is a good thing!!! If it was coming from the pancreas, that would cause them to have to take out part of the pancreas.

I won't be able to post again today unless we find something out before 4:00 (when the computer lab closes) and it is closed tomorrow so hopefully I'll be posting from Dallas Love Field next!!!

These are the cathedars. This is where they are inserted.

Hello everyone! Mike left about 10 minutes ago (1:20) to have the cathedar inserted into the cyst. There is a 50/50 chance this will work and we have spoken with a surgeon that specializes in the pancreas, should they need to do surgery. He was very good at answering all of our questions...and believe me, we always have a lot!! It shouldn't take very long to put in the cathedar and they should know by this evening if the cathedar is working. That is about all I know for now!!

Well...I don't have bad news but I don't have good news either!

The lining of the cyst was too thick for the stint to be inserted so they are having to look at Plan B. Mike was admitted to the hospital this afternoon and they will do a CAT Scan either tonight or tomorrow. At that point, our doctor, a surgeon, and a radiologist will examine the CAT Scan and determine if inserting a cathedar (spelling??) would be the best route or surgery. Hopefully they will insert a cathedar to drain the cyst. This will take 3-4 days for the cyst to drain during which Mike will be in the hospital. If they decide that draining it surgically is the best way, he will be in the hospital for at least 1 week. The route will be determined in the morning.

Looks like Dallas gets to see us a little longer!!

WOW! What a crazy 10 1/2 days we've had!! Just to catch everyone up and clarify a few things...

Beeville
Mike and I traveled to Beeville on Friday for him to lead a back-to-school event for the youth. The weekend went REALLY well and we got to meet a lot of the youth and their parents. We felt so welcomed and "at-home." We looked at a few housing options and found a really cute house that is in our budget! We got a call from Nikki (the unofficial committee leader) on Wednesday night saying the committee met and are recommending that the church hire Mike as the new youth pastor. For those of you not familiar with the way Baptists do things, the search committee will present Mike to the church (so yes, one more trip there!) and the church will most likely have a chance to ask Mike questions and then vote on whether or not to hire him. We do not know any details yet on when we will travel back to Beeville.

Surgery
We then traveled to Dallas and met with the doctor performing the surgery. The doctor shared that things were a bit different than we thought. They would be putting in two stints like we anticipated but they would have to examine his pancreas and see what was causing the cysts. If it was a certain thing, they would have to remove part of his pancreas. Of course we both panicked since we have heard bad things about having your pancreas removed but Dr. Tarnasky did say that since Mike was already diabetic, there wouldn't be as many problems as with someone who isn't diabetic. He has his procedure on Thursday morning but they were only able to insert one stint in the section of the cyst that affects his bile duct. They were not able to get to the section that is affecting his stomach. That is why he is having a second procedure on Tuesday. They will use different scopes and equipment to access that section and insert the stint. Also, this is the area that they will use to look at his pancreas so we don't know what the status is on that yet. There is a chance that they won't be able to insert the second stint. At that point, there are a few options but they both have factors of time and higher chance of infection. One option is inserting a cathedar (no idea how to spell!) to drain the cyst and the other is surgery. One of Dr. Tarnasky's associates does the type of procedure that Mike will have on Tuesday and will assist him.

Well, I think that sums it all up!! :) We have had a pretty good weekend here in Dallas. We decided to stay rather than traveling several more times! We have had lots of quality time together!! Also, My dad is in Dallas right now so we are able to visit with him and that has been nice.

Ryan Kennedy
Please continue to keep Angela (my best friend) and her family in your prayers. Her 19 year old brother Ryan continues to be on a ventilator and in ICU in Lubbock for double pneumonia. Angela and I have been in contact at least once a day and she said yesterday was a little better than the past few days. He was rushed to the hospital on Wednesday after being found unconcious in his apartment. He had been diagnosed with bronchitis the day before but once at the hospital, was diagnosed with double-pneumonia! He has woken up a few times but has not been coherent. He is fighting right now and needs our prayers!

Thank you all for your prayers and support! We are praying that we are able to go home on Wednesday!!