What a ride.

Well our family has made it through another year. How we did this I don't know. I must say that this year was filled with a lot of good times.

I had the pleasure of meeting several of the marines parents and they were just so much fun. I also spent a lot of time at the beach. For me that is always a good time. I also remembered that a good time does not have to coast a lot of money.

Rusty and I have grown more and more in love. I never knew that was possible, but it happened. I am so glad that I have him in my life and that he is the one I go to bed with every night.

I have been looking into the future and I know this year is going to be a great roller coaster ride. I am gearing up for it, so maybe I will be able to fly through everything with grace.

Amber has been on my last nerve since Christmas. If she makes it through the next year I will be excited. Now don't get me wrong. Amber is a good kid. She is not pregnant or doing drugs, she is in college, but man she needs a good dose of reality. Ambers ex boyfriend Sam is now back in town and they have hooked up again. Since Sam got back in town Amber has been treating me like dirt under her feet. When I talked to Rusty about it he said "She is trying to play adult, the sad thing is she does not know the rules of the game."

I see Amber heading for a very hard time. Soon Sam will go back to N. Caroline. Then what? Amber will be back here going to school and hopefully working. I could sit here and tell Amber how hard long distance relationships are. I could tell her that Rusty and I are the exception and not the norm. Most military marriages don't last. I could tell her all of this, but she wont listen to me, so I am not wasting the valuable oxygen on her.

Nikki will be 18 this year, and she has her tattoo picked out. It will be of a mouse and she is getting it on her foot. My dad use to call her a mouse, so he is getting the mouse in honor of him. I don't care if my children get tattoo's. I told them that as long as they live here they can only get a tattoo if it can be covered by clothing.

Nikki is going to try to go on two mission trips this year. She wants to go to the Philippians and to New York. Let the fund raising begin. Some how some way she always comes up the money and I have faith that it will be the same this year.

Ryan will be going into high school this fall. Rusty and I are not sure what high school we want him in. When it comes to Ryan every decision is very hard. Before Christmas break Ryan had a complete evaluation. I guess the results were good or bad depending on your point of view. His scores were very low. The good news about that is that he now qualifies for more programs, the bad news is it looks like Ryan will be living with us forever. Who knows what the future holds?

Chris got his ship date pushed back. It looks like he will not be leaving until mid April. That is cool with Rusty and I, but Chris is not so happy, because he wants to move on with his life and right now he is in limbo.

Chris had a great year. This time last year he was homeless, and now the world is his oyster. He has a home, food, clothing, and a motor cycle. Yep on of the marine GAVE him a motor cycle. Yes it did need some work, but it is up and running now and he could not be happier to have his own wheels.

As for me. Well I have some changes that I want make in my life. The first change that I am making is in my giving. Last year and this year we were not really able to adopt a family for Christmas. So I asked Rusty to please bring home some big boxes. In the past I had big boxes set up and throughout the year I would fill it with stuff and then those boxes would go to the family that we adopted. I am going to go back to that.

I am really trying to get my quilting priorities back in order. I still have to get some quilts done for the marines. I will need to make some quilts for the mission trips and I want to do the baby blankets. I need to find balance in all the sewing that I want to get done. I am also going to have to take a huge leap of faith in committing to these projects. My material stash is almost gone, and the last time it was almost gone people gave me material, and I am going to assume that this time will be no different.

I also want to try to learn more about the ocean. I go there so much and I do know a lot about it, but I would like to learn about some of the plants that wash up on the shore.

Well I need to get moving. Tonight Rusty and I are going to go have dinner with the triplets parents. It will be nice to sit down and actually have a conversation with other adults.