Our Story. Pt 1

The Dr and I are coming up on our 25^th wedding anniversary and I thought it would be a good time to write our story. To tell how we went from being single, to a couple, to a family. This will probably come in several posts.. I hope I don’t bore you all.

It was on a Wednesday night in February of 1987 and I was at youth group. Sky Scrapers at Bethel Assembly of God in Lafayette, LA… Then this guy that I knew walked in with another guy…and I was smitten.. We always went out to eat after church and that was when Rod introduced me to James… He warned James about me saying “she listens to weird music”

I was on the “welcoming committee” for the youth group. I would go to the church and call the visitors that lived outside of our visiting area. We had a group that would go and visit the students that were new to youth the following week. But J lived too far out to visit, so I had to call him. I introduced myself…having no idea if he remembered me. He said he enjoyed service but attended church elsewhere…snot…so I pushed him to the back of my mind… but I did make a mental note that he lived just a few miles from my house. Fast forward a few months and he shows up at church again…be still my heart… off and on I saw him…and learned that he worked at the video store in the small town just a few miles from my house. I never went there because it was a small hick town… There was no way this guy was from there. I mean he had a bleach blonde spike and didn’t look like the typical Cajun boy…It was Christmas break and our mutual friend was back in town from college. I was at the local hang out when J popped his head and said Rod was in town. So, my best friend and I got up a we went to her house.. J was wearing a pink turtleneck..

Did I tell you how cute he was….sigh……..

It was around that time that he was a little more consistent in coming to church.. In March of 88 it was then that I found out that he was interested in me….ME!! He told a friend that he didn’t want to date me, just marry me…sigh…. But through a set of unfortunant turn of events…that didn’t happen until June…I was stupid…. I remember taking a video back to the store for my dad.. He knew something was up… he knew it was a boy.. He knew I was serious… I remember giving him the movies…him saying thanks and turning away… REALLY?!?!?!?!

Did I tell you that his very words made me melt?

June 13, 1988... Our first date.. He arrived in his canary yellow bug. I loved that car and it fit his personality perfectly. We went to a movie that a friend suggested. We both hated it. Then skipped dinner and went down to Barry’s pond… Yeah, I was a little weirded out by that. We talked. About ourselves and each other.

Did I tell you that he was like no other boy I dated?

We had a rocky start. I was stupid. Scared. I knew in my heart and spirit that he was the one. And I was scared out of my mind. We began dating. After a few weeks, he asked me to marry him. It was nothing special just a.. “Marry me” while we were talking. He did this several times and I always said yes. Finally at my parents house, while they were out of the country, he asked me again. I said yes, and then he said “Well then set a date” so we did.

Did I tell you he had my heart??

And I told my parents over the phone. They knew it was going to happen. They also knew he was the one.

Janurary 7, 1989... I married the most perfect man for me.

Did I tell you he had my life??

Our first year was filled with the same things most married couples go through. Learning to live with someone else, learning to put them first. But it was filled with joy. We were kids, 19 and 20. But we had love… and Love is All You Need. Right?? And Jesus.... oh how I am glad we had Jesus.

In October of 1989 we decided that we wanted to add to our family. We had no idea the road that this decision would bring us down. We had no idea how close we would grow and how much God would stretch us and teach us to lean on Him first and each other second. It is a road that I don’t wish on anyone, but I am thankful that we walked this road and that I had God and J with me.

Starting over and a bargain find.

Ok, I am going to try to start this blog thing again.  The Dr wants me to keep track of farm life and since I already have this one going I figured I might as well use it.

So lets go on a journey.....

Back in May, when my parents were visiting, we stopped in at a Goodwill.  This is not normal shopping for us to do, but the restaurant that we wanted to go to wasn't open and a GW was across the street.. and A wanted to go.  So, Mom went to the books, A to the T-shirts and Daddy and I looked at the kitchen stuff..  We wandered around and there, in the midst of bread machines and coffee makers was this... look at all the trays....and look at that price!!!

 Daddy and I plugged it in and it turned on.. it smelled a little dusty, but we figured it needed a good cleaning.  So I put it in the basket and called my Bro who had recently purchased a new one.   He said it was a good price..YAY!  Well, fast forward to July and I am just getting around to cleaning it up.  I untaped it (yes, I am slow) and was excited to find the fruit roll tray inside and the screen for drying smallish items!!    I plugged it in and the dusty smell went away!  Now, I can do something will all the onions that we have growing... first the sun needs to come out so that I can cure them.....
The potatoes are curing in an old fridge that we have.   I am just waiting for my tomatoes to decide to turn red.  It has been cool here but they need heat to ripen.  I am thinking of putting a greenhouse tent over them to help them along, then I get to play with my other new gadgets!

This is a post by my friend from LA, Belle.  Not her real name, although she can sing just like Belle in Beauty and the Beast.  And she is cute like her too..and she is French (ish). In fact, all of us French girls look like Belle...

Anyhoo, this isn't the first time she has come out against a book/movie that is all the rage.. I agreed with her about Twilight and I agree with her now!

Thanks D

R

Strawberries!

So Yesterday the Dr picked up a flat of strawberries from a local farm.  I wanted to pick my own, but I had too much to do.  Mom and Dad are coming in this weekend, and I need to get the house in order.  Anyway, I made a batch of strawberry jam today.  I never made this before, and to be totally honest, canning is very new to me.  But it is the one thing that I wanted to learn to do.  And was my goal for this farm.  Grow and put away what we have grown.

So far the jam looks good.. the bit I had leftover that wouldn't fit in jars was quite tasty.  The sad thing is, I made one batch ( 8 1/2 pints) and I still have about 3/4 of the berries left...  Any ideas on what I can do with the rest.  I am sure most of them will end up on shortcake..yum!

I have another question for all you canners.  Has anyone tried the Tattler lids?  They are a bit pricy, but reusable and look interesting.

Well, back to washing and hulling strawberries.....

Snow Day

The one little bit of snow that we have had so far was quite pathetic and it happened on a Sunday... but I did wake the kids up to let them know that it was snowing, and then we bundled up and headed out to play... Except for the almost 14 year old, who rolled over looked out the window and went back to sleep..... Z and L asked if I could pack a "brunch" for them so that they could go outside and play. While they were feeding the animals and freeing the chickens from their coop, I packed them a snack. They headed off to eat in their "fort" in the woods.

My kids argue and fight like the best of them, but then they do something that blesses my socks off. I told Z and L that I wanted to take a picture of them walking down the hill and Z reaches over, puts his arm around L's shoulders and they start walking. What a blessing to see him love his little sister that way.

Many times, I can let the isolation that I sometimes feel get the best of me. But then God blesses me with a few days of great conversation with good friends and I feel refreshed.

Here are a few more pics of the snow... Not much, but coming from a Louisiana girl.. this was quite the "snow storm"

Words

Words….


I woke up this morning with that word on my mind.
How many times have I used my words to hurt and wound? I guess I don’t think about it much until it involves me. Isn’t that true about us as humans? Very rarely do we think about how something will affect another person, until we are affected. This is something that I strive for, to be more like Christ and to pick my words carefully. I know that words impact me more than they do some people. It is my primary love language. All
a person has to do is say one word, and it can make or break my day.

Words…..(they) have the power of life and death

Yesterday was one of those days. … I spent most of the day doing one of my favorite activities, looking at and buying books. I love books. They have words in them… I found
several that I thought would be good for the kids’ school and for my family…… and a few for myself. Then the devil used someone to hurt. What she said was said in jest, but it was the word that I feared would be used against me. The word I hate.. “quitter” I hate that word…… Why? Because, honestly, I feel like a quitter…. I “quit” homeschooling, I can’t even diet
long enough to see significant results. So, you see this word hit me hard. I laughed
it off but felt defeated.

But God has my back.

Another friend, unknowing what had just happened, walked up to me, gave me a hug (my secondary love language) and told me how much she loved me. A few other things were said that healed the wound. God is faithful. He knew what I needed.

The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. I love how
Jesus is the Word of God…. He knew what I needed…

He knows what you need.

R

Sacrifices and Blessings

Living on a farm out in the middle of nowhere has it sacrifices and blessings. The sacrifices: Kroger is now 30 minutes away, our cell coverage is spotty and there is no unlimited high speed internet......Ok maybe they all fall under both catagories.. The blessings? Watching my kids come inside after a day of getting a full day's worth of vitamin D. The joy one their faces is wonderful. The adventures that they describe are worth more than being able to connect to the internet at a moments notice. So, I have to plan my shopping trips, big deal... I think I can live with that. Our family is in it's element. We are all doing the things that we love to do.

So here is a little update since my last post:

Meet Maximus Gabriel Quebedeaux. He is a Great Pyreneese and going from a little fluff ball to a big one in no time flat. I will give you Mac's story. We picked him up on Sunday July 24th. My daddy's birthday. When we got there they were giving him a bath and a good dosing of flea spray. We were happy to learn that Mac was born on June 12th... Zane's birthday. Since Zane was the one always begging for a dog, this seemed like a God thing! And boy it was. Well, Mac was going to be an indoor dog until we felt he knew us well enough and he was old enough for his shots. At his first home, he was with other dogs, so he was well protected. Well, Tuesday night we were all moved in and Mac started acting funny. He was wheezing and coughing and we didn't know what was wrong. We could tell he was distressed, so we were getting the number for the emergency clinic. Then, out of the blue he starte shaking foaming and his eyes rolled back in his head. He went limp. We thought we had lost him. The kids were all crying and so was I. That little pup had stolen our hearts. Zane wanted to know what to do, so I told him to pray. He held his little dog and started rubbing his belly and praying for him. I finally got the clinic on the phone (we didn't have a land line yet) and was telling them what happened. All of a sudden Zane yelled "he is ok" Little Mac had coughed and was breathing. So J and the boys rushed him to the clinic. It seems that his little body couldn't handle the adult flea spray that they had put on him and it was toxic to him. Our God is so faithful.. He kept our little pup safe. He went from 8 lbs on the day we got him to 15 the next Sunday.

Well, the pup isn't so little now and he is outside doing what he was bred to do... protecting our livestock...althought I wouldn't call these ladies "livestock" but he is doing his job. Meet Superchic(k)s Hey we had Toby and Mac...we had to go with the Christian Music theme!

I don't remember the exact date that we got them, but it is written down. They are Buff Orpingtons. J said they weren't very "buff" but kinda scrawny........ sigh...We kept them in the coop for a few weeks, and then let them out little by little. This we let them out daily and they have rewarded us with 2 eggs!! Let's just say we were all excited! Last weekend we added 4 pullets to the mix. They are still inside until J can get the back fence fixed up. It is a goat fence and they pullets can go right through it.

Well, that is all my "high speed dial up" can handle for the day and since the temps are in the 60's I am making a big pot of gumbo! Later I will update on all the cleaning up that took place the first week we were here. The property look so much better.

Have a wonderful day

R