Long time no see. . .

The clock reads 1:03 a.m. on what is now Monday, September 11, 2006. Unless you've been living under a rock, you know today is the five-year anniversary of one of the most horrific tragedies we, as a nation, have ever experienced. I'm sure later today will be a time of reflection of 2001. Specifically, I remember September 9, 2001. Earlier that year we purchased Chiefs/Raiders tickets as an anniversary present to ourselves (Raiders 31/Chiefs 28). As the watched the game that day, we had no idea two days later the world would stand still.


It's been almost one month since our big house warming get together. Friends and family from far and wide made it in and we finally have a home that is able to hold the 48 people who were here! We were so excited at the turn out and we're hoping to make this a regular thing. God has blessed us with the ability to achieve this dream and we intend to continue to use this home to build lasting memories for years to come.

The adoption process continues to go slowly, and we're having trouble staying patient with it. We've submitted 80% of the paperwork and now we're to the point where the financial investments are increasing. Tomorrow, we begin a new budgeting program on the computer to help us save and become better spenders. Today, we were on our way back from northern Iowa seeing Kim's family and we had a long discussion about how things are going. We decided that even though we joke about having a boy or a girl and which one we would rather have first that if they said "We have a newborn boy" or "We have a newborn girl" we would say, "How soon can we bring him/her home?!?!"

Last week we upped our life insurance to incorporate the new house and prepare for the adoption and Kim had some peculiar questions:

A. How long does it take for the money to arrive after Marc's death?
B. Can it just look like an accidental death? Would I still get paid?

Okay, so the second one is made up, but you can imagine Marc's chills at the asking of the first. . .

We would ask that you pray for us right now. In addition to the adoption process and trying to get our budgeting in check, we're also trying to make sense of other aspects of our lives. We've not been able to find a church home and continue to not be motivated to do so. We're still trying to make sense things, and our prayer/devotion time is really suffering making it very hard to connect with God. Also, we're both extremely busy at work and find our job stress ever increasing. Also, also, we're both trying to get back into shape, develop a fitness program and eat better. All in all, life is good and while we have our friends and family with us, we're just not feeling like we're connecting with everything like we should.

This past weekend was spent up in Everly, Iowa, with Kim's brother-in-law Tony, sister Jill, their kids Becca and Daniel and Kim's parents, Marv and Peg. While it wasn't the nicest weekend weather-wise, it was great to spend time with family. We rented a Ford Focus and literally only spent $48 in gas on a 789 mile trip. Not too shabby.

Next month, we will be taking part in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Walk For The Cure. We're excited to be a part of something that could hopefully change the lives of individuals around the world who suffer from type 1 diabetes. We will have a link to our walk page on this blog very soon.

Well, we're tired and it's time to go to bed. Tomorrow night the Raiders play and it should be another late night with the first NFL Monday Night Football on ESPN.

More soon.