COLORADO!!!

The girls on the trip...

Jarred and I in front of the pretty Christmas tree.
At the Lodge, these are some of the slopes...you can kind of see the Gemini lift on the right.

View from our Condo, we stayed at Beaver Village.
Christmas tree outside the shopping center we went to.
This is the town of Winterpark, some of it anyway
This is us on the top of the mountain where the restaurant is...

Here are some pictures from our "Spur of the Moment" Colorado Trip we took last week!! The Tappe's called us on Friday the 14th to see if we wanted to go to Winterpark, CO and we were on the road driving on the 19th!!! Crazy!! I LOVE being able to pick up and go at the drop of a hat...I guess that's one reason I don't have kids yet! This was my first trip to Colorado and I had a blast. This was also my first time skiing (unless you want to count skiing when I was 8 in West Virginia, which I'm told is NOTHING like Colorado). Well, if you know me very well you know that I was very timid and scared going up on the mountain. I had no clue how I would do skiing and all I'd heard were horror stories about altitiude sickness, falling, etc. Well, luckily, I didn't have the altitude sickness too bad...I think I had it for a little bit the first morning on the mountain but after I ate lunch I was fine! Let me just take you through my first couple runs down the mountain. Okay, so Jarred, being the wonderful husband he is, was going to stay back w/ me and go slow down the mountain for the first time and just be supportive. We take the easy run and for the most part it went very well. I was feeling really good about myself after that. We decided to do it one more time and then try something a little harder!! The second run went great and of course by that time I'd grown a HUGE head thinking man, what in the world was I worried about. I'm athletic...skiing, no problem!!! HA! Was I wrong???? (Side note: we decided I didn't need ski school, Jarred thought he could just teach me, another side note...he's only been like 3 times before) So he takes me up the mountain a bit further...we get off the ski lift and I'm searching for the Greens...umm...where are the greens honey??? We go left and I look down at what at the time seemed like the biggest drop of my life!!! Straight down too, if I remember correctly!!! Well, Jarred takes off and flys down and gets to the bottom as I'm starting down...at this point, I'm not to happy w/ good ol Jarred!!! I get maybe a fourth of the way down and end up flipping (not on purpose) about half way down. Skis over my head, etc. So now I'm half way down this mountain and I'm upside down and stuck. By the way, it's not easy to just push yourself up on a slant! I know you put your skis sideways on the mountain but it's still hard...plus no ski school, remember??? Well, I finally get up (without Jarred's help b/c he's at the bottom, great right??)!! I'm going again and once again there I go, rolling down the mountain! I've made it to the bottom by now but I'm mentally done and I'm just at the bottom of that drop, not the bottom of the mountain!! I remember falling at least 4 more times down the mountain and on one I heard Jarred say "Good fall honey" at that point I'd had it. I was done falling, all I wanted to do was Get the Heck off that Mountain!!! I can look back now and laugh but at the time I was not a happy camper. We decided to go in and have lunch after that. I needed a break!

That's probably my best story of the trip...the rest went a lot smoother. I didn't fall much after that. I was able to go to the top (where the restaurant is) and ski down multiple times and I thought I did pretty great!! I'm no pro but for not doing the ski school I was pretty proud!! I've never been more sore in my life but it turned out to be worth it!!! I would LOVE to go back someday! Winterpark was beautiful...I don't think I'd ever seen that much snow in my life! OH- you should ask me about Jarred jumping off the ski lift too...that's a good one!! NOT! He did jump off though. I don't have time to write about it now but if you ask me later I'll let you know all about it!! Thanks to everyone who let us borrow all their ski stuff...at least we looked like we've been doing this all our lives!!!

Retreat Picture!

Here's a picture Amanda sent me from the retreat!! Thanks Amanda!

Honeymooner's Retreat Dec. 07 and more...

Well, it's be FOREVER!! Life has been crazy! I finally feel like I can breathe again though. Most of you don't know but for the last 4-5 months I've been planning our Sunday Morning class's Honeymooner's Retreat...Honeymooner's seems like a funny name b/c most of the folks in our group are no longer Honeymooning but oh well! We went to Petit Jean State Park on Friday night and came back yesterday around noon. I had such a good time! It was fun to hang out w/ friends and just enjoy being "away from it all." On Saturday we went hiking down the the Falls and it was great!! I've never been to Petit Jean, I know, I know, crazy, but I haven't! It is such a neat place and MOST of the staff there are very nice!!! I had some problems w/ one of the guys in the restaurant that tried to take charge once his manager left every afternoon but other than that it was fun! It's pretty stressful putting something like that together b/c you don't want people to have to pay too much money but EVERYTHING costs money so trying to keep the costs down was my biggest worry! Now that it's over I'm sleeping A TON better! :) I just pray that everyone enjoyed their time there and that they were able to grow a little closer as a couple and as a class. There's SO many of us in that class that smaller group trips are needed just to get to know people! I'm thankful for those that signed up and let me plan their weekend together!! Sorry I have no pictures from the weekend to put up!! Such a bummer! Hopefully Amanda will put hers up sometime soon!! Thanks Amanda for taking so many pictures!!!

We're now house/kid sitting again for a couple from church. We started yesterday around 3:00 so not too much of a break from the retreat to kid watching!! They're pretty good though, old enough to pretty much take care of themselves other than the driving part! It's fun, we really enjoying hanging out with the kids. It's fun to pretend for a while and then go back to our quiet home w/ our dogs!! Jarred calls it my "birth control" until we're ready to have our own family. I guess I'm selfish right now. I LOVE having Jarred all to myself and being able to pack up a do whatever without having to worry about anything else!! Don't get my wrong, one day I want to have a family but for now I'm perfectly happy with it being just me & Jarred!

One more thing before I sign off...I can't WAIT for the holidays to get here!!! We're having Christmas w/ Jarred's family on the actual DAY of Christmas but then my family will all be coming the weekend before New Year's. HOPEFULLY my Mimi will be coming up w/ Mom, Dad, and the boys. I LOVE having people over to the house and decorating, cooking, etc...can't wait!!! It seems like most of the time we get together Mom and Dad end up having to go back and forth from Little Rock to Searcy (my brothers both go to Harding) and so it will be nice to have them in LR the ENTIRE visit this time! Once again, I can't wait!! Anyways, there will be more info on the Holiday celebration later so be looking for that. Mom and Dad- make sure you tell Grandma & Granddad and everyone else we wish we could be there this weekend, hope you all have a good Christmas celebration together and give them all our love!!

It's been a LONG time!

Well, just wanted to let everyone know I'm still alive in the blogging world...we haven't had much to write about here lately but I'll be sure to post some pictures from Thanksgiving, hope everyone is doing good. Jarred and I are staying busy as usual...we're looking forward to a restful holiday break.

How Great is Our God!

So this past weekend was my visit to Montgomery to see Papa. We drove down to Birmingham to my best friends house Friday night. We got there around 11:30 (b/c of some CRAZY traffic, we should have arrived around 10:15!!). Anyways, we stayed at my friends house so that we wouldn't be in the way at Mimi's. Saturday morning we got up and left for Montgomery right after lunch. When we arrived Papa was awake so we got to go right back the bedroom to see him. When we walked in I could tell immediately that Papa knew who I was. I bent down and gave him a hug and said hello. It was hard for him to talk b/c at the time he only had one lung and it was almost completely covered in cancer. So...he mostly just nodded and turned his head to look at us while we were in the room. He seemed very content painwise but he did say that he wanted to fall asleep and not wake up. It was amazing how at peace with death he seemed to be. He was ready, his body just needed to catch up with him. Jarred and I spent about 30 minutes with him and then left the room to let him rest some. I was so happy that I got to see him and talk to him one last time.
Most of you know already but for those that don't we got the news yesterday that Papa had gone on to be with the Lord. It was incredible how fast it happened from when I was with him to the time we got the news yesterday. Saturday, when we were there, I remember talking with Mimi and Mom about how we thought he could live like this for a while, we knew he didn't want to but he seemed so content that we thought he would. Apparently with all the pain medication that he was on it was masking how bad he really was. By Sunday afternoon Papa had been put on liquid morphine (which I'm told is the most pain medication you can be on) and he became non-responsive as well. Hospice came in that afternoon and told everyone that it would be within 1-2 days. Although Papa was non-responsive Hospice assured us that he could still hear. About an hour before he died my Uncle Chris sang hymns to him. Mimi came in after Chris had finished to sit with Papa, she noticed that his breathing had changed and called my Mom in the room. Just before Papa breathed his last breath Mom and Uncle Chris both assured him that Mimi was going to be okay and that they were going to take very good care of her. After hearing this and that they both loved him very much Papa breathed his last breath and went on to be with the Lord. We had been praying after I left (After my visit, all the grandchildren had been able to see Papa and talk to him one last time) that God would take Papa home as soon as he could. God really does answer prayers. Mom, Mimi, & Chris are all very sad but they are also relieved that Papa is now in a better place. They are going to have a family viewing on Thursday morning and then the funeral will follow Thursday afternoon. We appreciate all your thoughts and prayers so much. I wouldn't have been able to get through this without all of you! I've really been strengthened throughout the entire process. God is working through my family and friends and I've been so blessed because of it. Thank you all.

Last Weekend

Well this is long overdue but I wanted to put pictures w/ this posts and I've just remembered to load them on the computer so here you go...

Last weekend my parents came to town to see all their kids! It was a much needed weekend for my mom, who has been extremely stressed lately with the "stuff" going on with my Papa. My youngest brother plays soccer for Harding and he had two games this weekend so it was the perfect weekend to come! Friday night I went up to Searcy (without Jarred b/c he had to work late) and met up w/ Mom and Dad out at my in-laws house for dinner. I didn't get to their house until 7:00 (Jay's game was supposed to start at 7:30) so Mom and Dad had already eaten and they basically gave me a hug and ran out the door to Jay's game. I stayed and ate a burger (My father-in-law makes the world's best burgers!!) w/ my in-laws and once I finished I went on to Jay's game. It was such a great game, Harding lost in the last 9 minutes 1-0. Of course, I think this was the coaches fault b/c he pulled Jay out w/ 20 minutes left in the game b/c of a slide tackle that he didn't think Jay needed to do and then w/ 9 minutes left the guy Jay had been guarding the entire game scores their ONLY goal!! Stinks, I know! Anyways, that night I stayed in Searcy at the in-laws house w/ my parents. That was a lot of fun to have both sets of parents together. I really enjoyed it!

Saturday morning I woke up WAY TOO EARLY for a Saturday and went apartment hunting for my brothers with the entire family! Dad took us to Burger King, of course, it's his favorite place to eat! Then after looking at my brothers top 3 apartments Mom, Dad, & I headed for Little Rock to go out to my house! They helped me design what I want my landscaping to be around the house. We've been struggling with this since we moved in, now we're just waiting for some money to fall in our laps so we can afford to do it!! Hopefully we'll be able to have most of it done by next Spring, we'll cross our fingers! Anyways, that night I went to watch the HOGS play w/ Jarred while Mom and Dad hung out w/ Michael and his now (as of Sunday night) ex-girlfriend. The Hogs game was definitely a waste of our time! The only good part was that it was our nephew's first college football game to go to (He's 5) and it was histerical watching him. I think at halftime we were up like 17-9 and Dawson came up and sat on Jarred's lap for a while and told him all about how we were "Killin them!!" Seriously, he's a hoot!!

Sunday I did an amazing thing...something that never happens at the Crow house, at least not for me...I woke up at 6:10 and went running w/ my Dad over the River bridge...it was great but oh my goodness it was early!! I'm not what you call a morning person AT ALL! I mean you can ask those closest to me, I prefer the night hours!! My college roommate and I had a deal where she didn't talk to me in the mornings until we were on our way to chapel and we DID NOT turn the lights on for at least 30 minutes after we got up!! It worked quite well. Jarred doesn't have very much sympathy in this area...he always tells me (much like my parents) that it's just a choice whether or not I'm going to be happy in the mornings...so, being the sweet husband he is, he go around turning lights on in the mornings just to aggravate me!! He seems to think this is funny...I do not! So after we went running, which I must say was an excellent start to the day, maybe I should do this more often...I'll let you know if this happens, we got ready and went to church! I was so bummed b/c Jerome wasn't there on Sunday, not that I didn't enjoy the singing but Mom and Dad hadn't been there to experience Jerome before I was so excited...OH well, next time!! After lunch we drove to Searcy, yet again, and went to Jay's other soccer game. Jarred and I made a stop at the hospital to see his Mammaw for about an hour and a half then went over to Jay's game. Mammaw is doing great and it was such an encouragement to go see her! Well, that's about all my weekend, we got to see about an hour of Jay's game then had to get back b/c we both do Platoons w/ the youth group on Sunday nights. I'll tell you all about that some other time...anyways, keep praying for Papa, Jarred and I are going this weekend to see him so I'll have more news on that next week! Thanks for all the comments and prayers...Here are some pictures from our weekend w/ the fam.

Announcing the starters at Sunday's game. Jay is the second from the end of the white jersey's!

This is my Mom and Jarred. Jarred is cracking me up in this picture...he never really smiles but I got him on this one! He's cheesin big time!!

This is my Dad.

Michael and Kaitlin (at the time of this picture they were dating, at the time of this post they are no longer dating...they were cute huh??)

Action shots...I totally need a new camera...I can't get it to zoom in enough and it's just old! Jay's #20 in the middle.

I've been tagged!!!

I was tagged by Amanda Dyniewski! Thank You.

So here it goes:
1. Who is your man? Jarred Crow
2. How long have you been together? Married a little over 3 years, dated 2 1/2 before that!
3. How long dated? 2 1/2 years (engaged 1 year of that)
4. How old is your man? 26
5. Who eats more? I guess Jarred but I'm a good eater myself!
6. Who said "I love you" first? ME
7. Who's taller? Jarred
8. Who sings better? I think we both sing pretty good, Jarred would say me though
9. Who is smarter? OH no question, that's definitely Jarred
10. Whose temper is worse? No question again, that's definitely Me
11. Who does the laundry? Me
12. Who takes out the garbage? Mostly Jarred but I do it occaisonally
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Jarred, I'm the same as Amanda, don't like to sleep by the door
14. Who pays the bills? I do
15. Who is better with the computer? Jarred
16. Who mows the lawn? Both of us, lately it's been me
17. Who cooks dinner? I do
18. Who drives when you are together? Jarred but he hates it b/c I'm a passenger seat driver...sorry honey!
19. Who pays when you go out? It's been me now b/c we're doing the envelope system and I have the envelopes!
20. Who is most stubborn? Oh that's me again
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Jarred
22. Whose parents do you see the most? Well, it probably should be Jarred's since they aren't far away but it's mine b/c all three of the kids are in Arkansas
23. Who kissed who first? Jarred kissed me! Wouldn't have been me, I was terrified...he was my first "real" kiss! :)
24. Who asked who out? Jarred asked me out
25. Who proposed? Jarred did and it was great!
26. Who is more sensitive? Me, I cry kind of a lot!
27. Who has more friends? Since we've been married we have a lot of the same friends
28. Who has more siblings? Jarred
29. Who wears the pants in the family? Jarred (most of the time! :))

Thanks Amanda! I will now tag The Blands and Jeni! Enjoy girls! You have one week to complete. Hah!

House/Kid Sitting

Well, first I'd like to start by saying thank you to everyone who has left such sweet comments for me about my Papa...Jarred and I are going to Montgomery in 2 weekends to see them so I'll fill you in more after that trip. Please continue to keep them in your prayers...



So the past 5 days have been VERY interesting...Jarred and I have been playing Mom and Dad for three kids at church while their parents went to Colorado for some R & R! We really enjoyed it but it definitely was an eye opener! I mean we went from just the two of us to having 3 kids quick!! It was fun to stay at their house, which was awesome & now my dream home, and I enjoyed pretending I was "Mom" for a couple of days. We had two girls and a boy (9th grade, 7th grade, & 3rd grade). So our responsibilities were to make sure the kids got to all their functions (volleyball games, babysitting clinic, birthday parties, etc.) and make sure they got fed, did their homework, went to bed at a decent hour, etc. I gained so much more respect for my parents from this weekend. I mean these are really awesome kids and they are pretty self sufficient but it was still crazy! I mean I don't know how my parents did it with the three of us...they both worked and still were able to come to all our of games, practices, plays, etc. They even acted well rested the next day for the most part. Sunday afternoon I was SO tired and worn out and I really didn't do that much! Jarred helped out a ton b/c he's great w/ kids and so the 3rd grade boy LOVED him. Jarred's got a great sense of humor and he's got a crazy imagination, kind of like he's still in 3rd grade himself. So at night after homework was done he would play legos w/ him...they even recorded some silly stories they made up with the legos and the kids thought it was hilarious...well Jarred went to the Hogs game (YAY, we finally won!!!) on Saturday w/ 3 boys from Silver City Church, the oldest girl went to her volleyball tournament, and the middle girl went to a babysitting clinic so it was just me and the little boy for most of the day on Saturday. That poor child...I'm not as good or creative as Jarred is with him. I mean I tried but it just didn't work out so good!! He wanted to record another lego story (about Star Wars, which I have NEVER seen) and in his words..."It was a complete failure!!" He was nice about it but I could tell I was NO fun at all!!! Needless to say when Jarred was back with us he was on Cloud 9!!! I relate much better with the girls! Anyways, you'll be glad to know that Jarred & I still want kids one day just not now!! We are enjoying our alone time too much! Plus, I get to keep my friends babies pretty often so I live vicariously through them every once in a while, and for now, that's enough for me!!

My Papa

Well, seems like the news just isn't getting any better. We found out yesterday (Sunday) that Papa's cancer is in Stage 4 and that he's not going to be able to beat it. The doctors said that if he does the treatment he will have an average of about a year left and if he decides not to do it he has around 4-6 months average.
I am overwhelmed with so many emotions right now, it's crazy! Everything came as such a shock because it all seemed to happen so fast. I mean, one day they are in Rome on vacation for 10 days and a week later he's got cancer in 3 major areas!! The whole family has been a bit overwhelmed! The amazing part of the whole thing is that I've seen God more through this experience than I probably ever have. Maybe it's because I've really had to lean on Him to get me through this and I wasn't doing that as much when I didn't "have" to. I'm ashamed to say it but it's true. It seems that's God's showing me now that I really do NEED Him. He's the only one that can bring me peace. I'm sad when I think of how many times I've probably not noticed God working in my life just because I wasn't in tune with Him. It's amazing to me how "real" he has been in the past week.
I'm so thankful for the family I have and how each one of them is turning to God at this horrible time. My mom was down in Montgomery with Mimi and Papa most of last week and I got to hear lots of different emotions coming from her. Just to give one example, my mom and uncle Chris had been at the hospital all day one day last week and were feeling pretty down about Papa's condition. He seemed very weak and wasn't eating and it was just a very depressing day. Uncle Chris had told my Aunt Susie (his wife) all about this and after they hung up the phone she began to pray that when Mom and Chris got back up to the hospital that night they would receive some encouragement from the situation. Well, when they got back up to the hospital Mom said Papa was a completely different person. He was sitting up in bed, had a little color, and seemed in a better mood, though he still hadn't eaten. They had made little goodie bags for the nurses who had been helping them at the hospital. When Papa saw this he told Uncle Chris that he wanted some candy! Chris said "Okay Dad, what kind would you like?" Papa said "Snickers." After he got done with the snickers he looked over at my mom and said "I want another candy!" Mom said, "Okay Dad, do you want another snickers?" Papa said, "No...I want something different...I don't want to get bored!" (Mom- I paraphrased what you told me, hopefully it's pretty much the way it all happened) Isn't that hilarious??? I was so excited to hear that Papa hadn't lost his sense of humor completely! It was just the laugh that Mom and Chris needed to keep them going. That's the power of prayer!! I thought it was such a good story I wanted to share it. There are many others but I don't have the time to write them all out. It's definitely been highs and lows of all different kinds of emotions but I'm blessed to be a part of a family that puts its trust in God. He will get us all through this tough time. I'm thankful for all the friends who are praying for our family. Keep it going we definitely will continue to need it.

Please Pray...

We found out on Monday of this week that my Papa, my mom's dad, has been diagnosed w/ lung cancer and it has spread to his liver and his adrenal gland. At this point we aren't sure what the treatment options are b/c they aren't sure as to what kind of cancer it is. They did a biopsy yesterday and we're hoping to get those results back later this afternoon. Please pray that it is a type of cancer that can be treated and that Papa will be determined to beat it. Please pray for my Mimi (his wife) and my Mom and uncle Chris as they are down in Montgomery now with him. Please pray that God will bless them all with strength and peace of mind. To be honest, when we found out it came as quite a shock b/c at the time we all thought he had pneumonia. I took the news pretty hard at first but since then I've been thankful that God is giving me a peace about this situation. Papa is a godly man and I know that if anything were to happen to him he'd be in Heaven receiving his reward.
I want to thank my Life Group for having a special prayer for Papa last night. It meant a lot to me and I know my family appreciates it as well. God has surrounded Jarred and I with wonderful people and I'm so thankful for that. I'll keep you all posted with more news as we receive it. Thanks again to everyone for praying!!

This is new for me!

Well, this is my first time blogging! I've been an "anonymous" user for quite some time now so I decided to go ahead and start my own blog. Hopefully this will be a great way for my family members to keep up with what's going on in our lives. It's been hard to stay close since we all live in different states (my side of the family anyway). It's even hard staying close to the family we have here in Arkansas. Isn't that crazy? I mean we live about 15 minutes from Jenn & Scott and about 45 from Jarred's parents & Jeff & Terrian but we hardly ever see them. Jordan will be moving in soon so we'll get to see him all the time!! But for those we don't see often enough, this is my solution...we'll see how it works!!

Here are some photos from the summer...just to catch you up on what we've been up to.

Those above are from my trip to meet w/ my college roomie (Tina) and meet her daughter for the first time. We met in Branson and it was great. Isn't her daughter adorable??? Congrats Tina on #2, Carter is so cute, I can't wait to meet him!

These are my awesome parents! Aren't they cute?These are a couple of the crazy amounts of pictures we took on my family beach trip this summer. We always go to Pensacola Beach around the 4th of July. It was so much fun! I don't have a group photo of the entire group b/c we didn't take one this year but it's my Dad's entire side of the family...his 2 sisters and their families and his parents. We had a great time!

We missed this picture b/c Jarred wanted to walk around the entire stadium...oh well...These were all from our weekend trip to Atlanta w/ the Connett's & Tappe's (this was mid-July). We stayed at Melea's parents house and saw the sights! This girls picture above is taken at Stone Mountain, the guys didn't make it. That Saturday we went shopping and to the Cheesecake Factory and then to the Braves game that night! Great trip.
This cute little guy is Eli...he's our good friends Curtis and Alison's little boy. They live in Fort Walton Beach so we never get to see them except for when we go to the beach so we try to go as often as we can! :) Eli is wearing Jarred's sunglasses but he's poked out the lens...too cute!
These were all taken on our beach trip to Destin w/ 5 other couples at the beginning of August. We stayed RIGHT on the beach and it was wonderful! Well, I guess I will end my first blog ever...there will be more to come...