freedom ain't free

When I went to bed last night, the only thing on my mind was my science lesson I was due to teach in the morning. I didn't say my nighttime prayers or think about our men and women overseas. I was only concerned with me, me, me. Sometimes I think we all get into these ruts where there are so many things to do between sun up and sun down that we get caught up in it all and forget about the things that matter

The alarm went off at 6:00 AM and I snoozed it until 7:30 (bad girl, I know). The first thing I did when I crawled out of bed was open my laptop and double click for internet. The MSN homepage stopped me in my tracks: OSAMA BIN LADEN IS DEAD. I re-read it to make sure and then clicked on the article. Oh, and then I jumped on Tyson (who is the grumpiest, non-morning person ever) wildly screaming the news. Adrenaline was seriously pumping through my veins. I was crying. I couldn't even contain my joy, reading the news that this evil man had been served justice.

Now, you must be thinking that I have a Dad or brother or sister in the Service, or maybe I lost someone close to me in 9/11, but no. I've always been a patriotic person (being born on Flag Day might be the cause). Something about this great country has always been beautiful to me. I'm the person who sobs hearing a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem, watching the memorial tributes to soldiers on the news, or watching the soldier homecoming videos on youtube. America is the best country in the world, and I for one am PROUD to live here.

The emotion I felt this morning hearing about the raid was the opposite end of the spectrum I felt nearly ten years ago, 11 years old, seeing a plane crash into the World Trade Centers. That same feeling I had when I went to school that day and I was scared that our country was no longer safe. That feeling I had when our teachers were huddled together crying, telling us that this was a day of infamy, one that we would never forget. The first day I was ever encouraged to pray in school-- to pray for our God to help us, heal us, and make us strong again. This was the day that my generation lost it's innocence. I sat and I cried.

8 months after that solemn day, I myself was at Ground Zero. I was joined by the same classmates who watched the footage with me, and the same teacher who told us to never forget. Americans are strong, but this was a sacred ground where men and women came to pay their respects and be weak if need be. I was 11 years old, but the message of that disaster zone was loud and clear. I was numb. The rubble still stood. Emotions were still raw. Pictures of Mommies and Daddies and sons and daughters plastered the site. I sat and I cried.

And today, nearly ten years, I feel like our country has found a small victory. My heart still hurts for those who have lost, but there is finally justice. And in that, I find peace. So this morning, I forgot about my lesson. I forgot about making sure my hair looked perfect and my shoes matched my dress. This morning, I rummaged around the back of my closet and pulled out a little American flag. I held it to my heart and remembered that I am blessed to live in the best country in the world. And I am blessed to have a wonderful God who loves me. Nothing else matters.

God Bless America.

Back to Reality..

I've been in a dream world since my last post. That was in November (I'm soo terrible at keeping up with this!) so my blog has missed a ton of life between now and then.

Major milestones:

• November 2010: Tyson and I celebrated two years of pure love and bliss as a couple! We went out for a fancy night on the town and then stayed home and relaxed with some ice cream and movies :) 
• December 2010: Christmas-time! I wrapped up my semester of school and got in the Santa spirit :) It's my favorite time of the year.
• January 2011: Rang in the new year with our good friend, Andy. I started my block classes here at NMSU-A. Tyson's wonderful grandmother lost a long hard battle with illness. We miss you Grandma Ann. 
• February 2011: I SAID YES! Tyson proposed to me! It was beautiful and romantic and completely took me by surprise. We celebrated by ourselves for a week and let the awesome-ness of being engaged sink in before we told any of our friends or family. It was perfectly us and I can't wait for Tyson and I to begin our marriage :) He's my best friend and I'm crazy about him!
• March/April/May 2011: School, work, school, work, school, work. We have been working our tails off. We are both exhausted 99.9% of the time and it's been rough. This semester of school has definitely kicked my butt and it's taken a lot out of me. One thing I know for sure is that I have come soo far that there is NO turning back now and I can't wait to finish and graduate (May 2012). Within this time, we also lost our beautiful wonderful Rebel puppy. He got ran over on our road by Tyson's Aunt's boyfriend. It was a terrible accident but it still hurts my heart. His food and water bowl still sits out for him every night. He was my cute and silly little baby and I know he's in puppy heaven now. Mommy misses you Rebbie. 

In other news: I love being an Auntie! Kinley is the cutest little girl in the world and I'm so lucky that I can be a part of her life. My brother and his wife are amazing parents and I know without a doubt that they would do anything in their power for that little girl. It's so fun to have a baby around! My parents are loving being grandparents too :) It just melts my heart seeing how she melts all of us :)

Also, I've undertaken the task of re-doing our kitchen. Pics and updates about that later.

Tyson's birthday is coming up on the 15th of May. He's turning 25!!!! We aren't exchanging presents for either of our birthdays (Mine is June 14th) because we've planned an awesome SUMMER VACATION! I haven't had a getaway in soooo long and I am pumped for this one. Tyson and I are going to Lajitas, Texas with our good friends Catlin and McChristie. The same company that puts on the annual music festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado is having a summer festival in Lajitas. (Disclaimer: If you don't follow TX country you probably won't have any clue of this awesomeness) It is the first year for this one, which is called Fest Out West. It's five days at the world-class Lajitas Golf Resort and Spa. There are about 20 bands that are going to be there. They have some awesome acts booked like Reckless Kelly, Micky and the Motorcars, Wade Bowen, Randy Rogers, Cody Canda, and Hayes Carll. We are planning to raft down the Rio Grande, get facials and massages, lounge poolside with a drink in hand, and enjoy our getaway. Catlin and Chrissy just had twin boys last year so they really need some relaxation time, but I think I deserve some too :) So that will be mine and Tyson's presents to each other. I am so excited that it is honestly the only thing that has gotten me through these past few weeks of school. Hopefully it will get me through finals week too :)

Since I can't seem to figure out how to insert pictures in text, here are some pictures of the past few months :)

my wonderful family for Christmas 2010

Tyson breaking colts and loving it

 

I miss you, Bellie :(

Spring Turkey Hunt- I'll write a post with more of these pictures later. It was a fun time!

Ah! I don't even have any pictures of my ring on my computer, so I will have to do a post for that later too! I'm slackin big time! Well, I guess I can't complain about my lack of subjects later then ;) Adios Amigos!!

K

christmas pictures!

last year, tyson and i sent out christmas cards to our close friends and family. it was a last minute thing that involved a box of walmart cards and a picture we stuffed inside. the picture was a sloppy self timer picture of us in front of our christmas tree.

although it served it’s purpose, this year i was determined to do better and go all out. the past few weeks i have scoured online card websites and finally tyson and i agreed on a design we both liked. the website (www.tinyprints.com) is awesome and has everything from baby announcements and party invitations to calendars and planners. since the site was having a great deal on holiday cards this weekend, i knew it was prime picture time.

unfortunately, tyson was leaving on friday to go hunting with his friends catlin and mcchristie. but that didn’t stop me. we woke up at 5:30 friday morning to get some shots while the sun was going up. as much as i wanted to get a photographer to take them (sad face) it just wasn’t in our budget this year. so we used the self-timer again, but this time i planned ahead a little better and i think the pictures came out pretty dang good! here are some of my favorites:

    this was our first one of the day! and it came out pretty good :)

 

sometimes i don’t know how i lucked out in finding such a good looking guy!

i was pretty proud of myself and happy with how our christmas card turned out. it’s nice that we saved a few bucks taking our pictures ourselves, not to mention gas money since we took them all in our backyard! there are many more and you will see them this year on our spectacular christmas card! ho ho ho!

my return to the blog world

hello blog world,

i’ve returned! it has been a crazy summer/semester and as much as i’ve meant to keep up with my blog, it clearly hasn’t happened. but this time i’m back with a vengeance and i want to keep this up to date!!

currently, i am substituting for alamogordo public schools part time and going to school full time. it has been a difficult semester for me, school-wise. online classes are completely different than regular classes and it has been a challenge to motivate myself. thankfully, i have progressed in this weakness and i am better and stronger. last month i was accepted into NMSU’s Teacher Education Program, so in January i will be taking my block A classes at NMSUA. i am beyond excited for this! three more semesters until graduation. praise God.

things with tyson have been so good. he is making progress with his business and finally has all the tax stuff and whatnot dealt with and he is “legit” as he likes to say. i am so glad that he wakes up each morning knowing he is doing something he loves. i feel the same way when i go to schools. i know not many people love what they do, so i feel doubly blessed for that.

it has been a difficult transition for me moving to alamogordo, but i’m starting to get more and more used to it. (maybe not a good thing?) although most people might think that moving here has made me more dependant on another person, i would argue that i have become much more independent! since tyson is pretty much the breadwinner of our household (substitutes don’t get paid much!), i contribute by doing all the cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. tyson’s gotten pretty spoiled by it, but i enjoy it because it keeps my mind occupied and i know that i’m helping out somehow. i miss my friends and family so so incredibly much here. it’s true you never know what you have until it’s gone. i don’t have anyone i would consider close to family here, and sadly i don’t even have anyone i would consider a real friend besides tyson of course. my sister and i were talking about it and she mentioned that it was like “feeling lost in a familiar place”. that’s it exactly. i love tyson and it feels right to be here, but sometimes i don’t know how i cope.

one thing i know for sure is how amazing it is to go to deming every few weeks. i have taken for granted how wonderfully my parents raised me and how they continue to take care of me. i can never repay them for all their love. they are true parents. just thinking about them brings me to tears. they have paved the way for me to be who i am today. i owe it all to them. they are my role models and heroes. i finally feel like i am out of the resentful teenage years and i can appreciate those around me for who they truly are. my parents would sacrifice anything for their children, and i am grateful that they believe in me and my siblings that much.

until next time,

katie

fishing <3

Yesterday Tyson and I drove up to Bonito Lake to avoid the hot summer sun. It was 102 degrees down here at the house, and much much MUCH cooler up in the mountains. It was a bummer because we were up there for over two hours and we didn’t get a single bite, but it was still fun. Afterwards, we had a nice dinner in Ruidoso. Here are a few pictures from our fun day.