I miss my sister and my Paul. I hope I get to see you someday soon. You two make me happy, and you're one of the greatest couples in the history of the world. Never ever doubt that! You two are my happy thought. You make me fly. I love you both. Don't let yourselves be discouraged. You are so loved and you love each other. SMOOCH! I miss you.

Hello! Hmmm... let's see. What should I write about today/tonight? Well, a quick recap I guess. BJ came to visit Tuesday night. We finished up season four of Alias (the last season we have on DVD... which will lead to significant withdrawal) and then headed to Wal-Mart. BJ picked up some contact solution, The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (for our collection!) and then my beloved bought me a mouse pad. I really needed a mouse pad. Thank you, my love!

We came home around 1:30am and were greeted by some wonderful strawberry milkshakes that Kelly had made for us. I made up the couch for BJ to sleep on, and before I knew it he was curled up under the blanket, nearly completely asleep with his milkshake still in hand. It was so adorable... I hated forcing him to get up and take out his contacts.

The next morning we did a whole lot of nothing. We lounged until around 11, and then I made breakfast. We did a little more lounging, and then asked Kelly to join us in a game of Scene It. Kelly won. (duh) After that, we ate pizza and watched "Outbreak". Nothing like pizza while watching a movie about an infections disease that makes you bleed from your eyes (and everywhere else) while making your organs liquify. Yum!

After the movie, we headed to Tiger Town and hit up Office Depot for some ink cartridges (for Kelly) and BJ checked out what kind of wireless internet adapter to get for the laptop I gave him. Woot! Woot! Yeah, anyway.

After that, home again. Did a little more nothing, and then did our devotionals. It was grand. It doesn't matter what we do together, I'm always happy with him. He makes me laugh. We did a lot of laughing. That's not nothing. That's laughing. And it feels really good.

Moving on! As promised I will now show you an adorable baby picture of adorable Cairo. I still get sad when I think about him. I feel like I gave up a friend. I know he's happy, and I know he's well taken care of, but I wanted to be the one to take care of him. Sometimes I think I screwed the whole thing up. But would keeping him of been selfish? I don't know. But hey... he was a gift from my beloved Amber...and she made a lot of people happy. I guess I need to get over myself. Cairo has blessed many people. Take a look at this little guy, and you tell me that you wouldn't fall in love with him too!





Isn't he just adorable? If you know how big a box of Irish spring soap is, you can see just how tiny he was. And then if you look at the pics below, you can see that in Jamie's arms...he is quite huge. Kelly, who is sitting behind me, wishes for me to inform you of the following:

I just burped. (and this is what I REALLY said afterward.) It tastes like banana peppers. And pickles. Which taste quite similar on a good day. (It's true, and this IS Truth Be TOLD, afterall.)

ANYWAY. Yes, Cairo. He's a big boy now, but he has been a blessing to so many people. He may not have been the buddy to me he was originally intended to be, but he has been a little puppy miracle. He's helped my mom out a lot, for instance. My Grandpa (her dad) is really not doing well. He's in stage four of his cancer, which is how far along my mom was with hers before her miracle. That's why she hasn't given up hope. It's really hard for her. She's told me so many times how raising Cairo has been an amazing distraction. A new baby, since our doggies are family. She loves him very much, and he's a wild and crazy young one, so that keeps her busy whenever she's home.

But as for Grandpa, he doesn't have much time left. It makes me really sad, because BJ never got to meet him. I really don't think he will. It's almost laughable sometimes when my mom tells me "You don't understand. This is my dad! My parent. It's too hard to watch this happen to him. You have no idea." I'm like...whoa. HELLO! I went through the same thing with her! I think she forgets that. She doesn't forget how almost dying affected her, which I don't expect her too. But now...she's seeing the other side of the spectrum, which I think she really underestimated before. Nobody is ready enough to watch a loved one die. No one can be prepared to make post-death arrangements. No one wants to talk about a will, nobody wants to think about the end.

My great Aunt Lorraine called up my Grammy (who has been divorced from Grandpa for a long time) and asked her to ask my mom to gather pictures of herself and her dad (Grandpa) for photo arrangements for the funeral. My mom was outraged. She was so angry. That side of the family claims to be so spiritual, and she just couldn't believe that they had no hope. I don't think they believe in miracles. They all heard about my mom, but none of them witnessed it. None of them believed in it.

I really love my Grandpa. None of us got to spend as much time as we wanted to with him growing up. Kelly, being his very first grand child got really spoiled... but I think I weaseled my way in there good enough. I'm the only grandchild whose Graduation he attended, the only grandchild to go stay with him in Arizona. That was a good trip. It was me, Grandpa, and Grandma Isabelle. We drove down there from Minnesota after a family reunion in their luxurious towncar. It took 3 days. Each night we stopped, the got me my own hotel room. the first night we stopped in Kansas, and the second night we stopped in New Mexico. It was the first time I had ever seen Cactus on the side of the road, and I was enthralled.

Grandpa learned the hard way that summer to appreciate my quiet side. That man has been the source of a lot of different emotions for every member of his family. But for me, all the memories have been good ones. I guess I'm blessed that way. I can only remember him after he had calmed down. (He was an alcoholic. But back then, NOT drinking a lot was wrong. not the other way around.)

My memories of my grandpa are awesome. This one thing he did would amuse me for hours. He would hand us a broom stick, and had us hold it p horizontallly in the air. He would leave the room, and one child would touch the broomstick in one specific spot. Grandpa would come back, sniff the broomstick up and down, and point EXACTLY to the spot where one of us had touched it. I still don't know how he did it.

He always gave us presents, and gave the best hugs. The last time I saw him was this past summer. One last reunion... they got everyone together for what they all honestly believed to be the last time. All my uncles came up, and it was good. Lots of laughing. I couldn't stop hugging my Grandpa. He had a cough, and we compared inhalers. (We had the exact same one) I don't want to believe that that was the last time I would ever see him alive. I want to be like my mom. I had hope for her, I need to have hope for him too.

Anyway, that went from happy to sad really fast. I hope BJ calls soon. Time to read the Bible. Love you all! Talk to you soon.

Corrie

Just had to share a couple pictures with you! Sunnie just sent these to me. Thank you so much for the pictures! They're the cutes things ever! The top is best friends, Winnie and Cairo. Cairo was my little baby puppy...he's not so little anymore! Under that is Jamie and Cairo...Jamie and his dog. He needs that. Then there's the moody brother all by himself with his new haircut (thank GOD!) and then finally...Cairo all big and stuff. I'll have to post a picture of when he was teeny tiny so you can all be in disbelief with me! Look below all the beautiful pictures for the journal update. I just can't believe how BIG Cairo is! Good heavens...

Hey all! Well, I don't really have much to report, but for some reason I felt like writing. Maybe that means I should be working on something worthwhile...but to me this journal IS worthwhile. Sometimes, anyway.

So what's happened since yesterday? Oh, that's right. Nothing. So I guess I won't talk about the day to day. Instead... I'll reflect. Ah, yes. Reflection. What shall I reflect on? A couple weeks ago Kelly and I were given 20 canned items from Benlee's parents. A sort of welcome gift, and it was awesome! One of these items was a can of salmon. Kelly and I decided to turn it into salmon salad and eat it on crackers. What I did not expect to find upon opening that can, was entire fillets of fish. Complete with the bones, and the spine. Ew? Yeah. But I got rid of the bones with a messy scraping of the fork. It was completely disgusting, but the end results were tasty. I realize that that wasn't much of a reflection, but it was indeed informative. Necessary? Absolutely not.

Moving on. I miss my family, but I miss home less. BJ is home now, so wherever he is, I'll be okay. I never in a million years thought I would be able to feel that way, but that's really how it feels. "I'm crazy in love with you..." Why, thank you Mister Helton. I shall eternally adobt your sentiments in reference to a love of my own, thank you very huge.

My brother is a poop. I've been begging him to agree to come down and visit this summer. He absolutely refuses to get on a plane by himself, the big baby. So Kelly and I came up with the best plan. We'd invite him around the time BJ, Kelly, Benlee and I plan to head to Florida for a Disney/Universal vacation. We'd PAY his way! He said no. AGHH! What a brat. He's just scared. If one of his pals was with him, he'd be okay. But if he brought Andrew, all he'd do is chase ofter the girlies. Good thing Jamison "Doesn't have time for girls right now." Oh, yes. I raised him well. My little genius musician poop. I hove him. Yes, I mean hove. Hate/love. I could say "late" love/hate, but that's just confusing. Is hove a word? I dunno. Maybe I'll ask the spell check. I've never spell checked before. Why start now? I'm not proud...just lazy.

Kelly has told me repeatedly that I should write a young adult fiction series. Something like the princess diaries, only without the princess and the diaries. Wouldn't that be awesome? That might sound to some like a heap of nothing, but...you don't even know! I'm so brilliant sometimes. Kelly says someone should be filming me. I think in my better moments I would make an excellent sitcom. Catch me at a bad time in life, and you have a soap opera. Put it all together, and you've got a Lifetime Original Movie! YES!!! I know Debra would watch it FOR SURE!


I just burped up the canned boney salmon. Gross.


Darla smells nasty. That's something we Darla lovers have always had to live with. If you haven't seen it and you're a close friend of mine...someday you HAVE to witness Darla farting her way up the stairs. It's priceless. Endless entertainment! Too bad we live in an apartment now. Although, sometimes she does run up to Benlee's. I haven't had the chance to catch the show yet though. Maybe I'll set her up. I've got a can of chili in the cupboard. (Which we also got from Benlee's parents) The reason why I bring this up, is because Darla is lying on the bed behind me. She just gave the grand finale of the show...only without the stairs. Can you get gas from jelly beans? Because she ate a whole bunch of them today. Jolly Rancher jelly beans to be exact. Just the grape ones were left. They're my least favorite. Darla likes them though! Too bad she doesn't smell like grapes...

I applied at Best Buy today. That would be fun! I think BJ and I would definitely enjoy the employee discount. Woot, woot! So many applications...so many high hopes.

RENT lovers! Kelly and I ventured to the post office the other day. We were so excited as we traveled down 7th street...we entered downtown Opelika and were absolutely ecstatic when we realized we were passing "Alphabet City" Oh, yes. Kelly laughed hysterically at me as I dodged traffic attempting to get a stellar picture of "Avenue A"...I don't think it worked all that well. We don't know how far into the alphabet the streets go, because we didn't go further than the post office.

"It was my luck day today, on Avenue A..." Ah, yes. BJ does such a grand imitation of Angel. You should all hear it sometime. Stupenda!

So anyway, about that YA fic series. The inner ramblings of some teenage girl. For those of you who read Downside...it would be like that, but with a completely different plot and completely different characters! But maybe I should keep Scarlett Calvin. That could be cool! Hmmm...I wonder. I like her. She would be me in highschool. I'd just write out my whole highschool life and change the names. Oh, that would be brilliant. I think I'll keep Jeremiah Bob. Because that's just HILARIOUS! Ooh...I'm getting excited.

Well, I guess I could ramble on and on about nothing forever...waiting for BJ to call so we can do our devotions for the night. I get to see him tomorrow! Can't wait!!! WEE! Can't help it, I love the guy! I really, really do. In his journal, he called me his future wife, and his gift from God. *sigh* I melted...just a little.

OOH! Sunnie IMed me! I miss my sissy. So I'm gonna end this now and talk to her. I love you guys! E-mail me! Send me mail! I love it all! BYE BYE!

ME

I just thought I'd post a little pic of the other love of my life, Cody. He's the absolute best doggie on the planet. He and I are BOTH in love with BJ. Seriously. Say "BJ" around Cody. I dare you! He goes nuts. My little 11 year old baby boy. That's 77 in doggie years. He's an old man that's finally starting to act like a puppy. I love that dog. Boy, do I love that dog.

Yo! So anyway. Weekends are good. Really good. I'm @ BJ's right now. He's still sleeping, for at least another 15 minutes. Then it's time to get ready for church! Yay! Anyway. I love BJ.

So. Friday night BJ was supposed to spend the night in Opelika, but was unable to make it. He showed up shortly after 8am instead on Saturday. We watched a little Alias, cuddled a bit, talked to Kelly...then we ate some lunch, watched a little more Alias, and then hit Target with Kelly and Benlee.

BJ bought Lois and Clark season 2, so we have to add that to our list. But I haven't told you about our list! I compiled an alphabetized list of all the "entertainment" BJ and I have. It's the master list of BJ and Corrie's entertainment library. Awesome! Wee!

Anyway. After Target we watched a little Smallville, and then headed on back to Montgomery. The Deans were gracious enough to let me do some laundry, and then BJ and I headed out to pick up some dinner for the family. (With a brief browsing stop at Wal-Mart.)

After dinner we caught up on devotions/scripture readings...which included reading 13 Bible chapters from 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel...and then a devotional as well. We fell a little behind in our Scripture reading. But now we're all caught up! We typically read 2-4 chapters a night...whatever the "read the Bible in a year" outline says.

We visited with Jake, Danielle, and Little Jack for a short while before heading off to bed.

Which brings us to today! Church soon, and Kelly will join us, and then BJ heads to work at 1. A simple weekend, but a fabulous weekend. I LOVE him so much. He makes me so happy...*sigh* Sometimes I feel overwhelmingly pathetic.

IN other news, a job should be finalized soon. So should other things methinks. BYE!