Change is Oh So Good!

Well, we're still alive, still in A-town, still on a high.  Time to play a lit'l catch up on what we've been up to for the last 4 months. :)

The ENTIRE Dayton fam got to come see us in Feb.  It was a wonderful week full of lots of laughs, shopping, and most importantly many late late nights of farming game playin.  (we're hard core with that game)  We were so sad to see them go.  It's always a party with the Dayters!

Dave got to go to Idaho for work again (so jealous) (he gets to go to NY in a week...again so jealous) and it was perfect timing for him to get to see our niece Hadley's baby blessing, and see Marnie who was visiting from Germany.  First time in like 4 yrs that all his siblings were together.  So fun!

    Went to Houston over spring break to find a house and check things out.  We were pretty sure we were gonna get shot or beat up or something the whole time we were lookin. Apparently we were lookin in all the wrong places! OOPS!  We got to go to the temple, a rodeo, and Gary Allan concert while we were there.

Our city league v-ball team took 1st place again for the spring season.  Yeehaw!  We're gonna miss this...

It was our 4th anniversary at the first of May.  :)  Seems like just yesterday we were walking out of the temple together.  Oh the memories!  I can't wait for what the future holds for us!  I definitely got the cream of the crop for a hubby!  Sooo blessed...He takes such good care of me...always has me laughin', and he gives the best massages!  LOVE YOU DAVE

Finally we just bought our 1st home down in Houston.  WHOA!  Yes.  Craziness.  Lots and lots of it.  But we love the house, it's finally finished, and it's beautiful!  I love the low housing market in Houston!  It's wonderful!!  We're still in shock...it's a new feeling to sign your life away, but I guess Dave's gonna be doing quite a lot of that in the next little while.  We're so excited to start this new chapter in our new home.  So if you're ever in our neck of the woods, give us a call!  We'd love to have you!  I'm graduated with just clinicals left now, we have a home, and I'm a happy girl!  We're feeling so very blessed.

So here's to wonderfully warm sunny weather with no wind for a change, so's we can go run off all the winter insulation we've accumulated :)

Remember that one day when...

So I'm going to give a replay of how January 19, 2010 went for David and me:

Just got home.  Sittin' on the couch eating some addictive gummy bears.  Got a text from David.  Read it three times before it made sense in my head.  Started crying.  Evolved into bawling.  Said "Oh my gosh!" about 500 times [Out Loud].  Started freaking out because I couldn't call David [he said he couldn't talk right then].  
Called my parents.  Dad answered.  Scared Dad to death when I could barely talk.  Because I was still bawling.  He thought something was wrong, HA!  Told him the news.  There was a lot of laughing, a lot of crying, and a few more "Oh my goshes!"  Hung up.  Freaked out some more.  Might have done a few olympic ice skating jumps across the living room.  Called my sister.  No answer.  Called my aunt.  Told her the news.  Still crying at this point.  Decided I better stop blabbing the news and let David do the telling.  Compromised (with myself) about just telling my sister.  And my brother.  That's all.  And my mom and lil bro who'd be getting home in an hour.  And maybe my sis-in-law because my brother wasn't home.  And maybe...nah, just kidding.  Self control.  Decided I better let Dave tell everyone else himself.  Stopped calling people (after I got ahold of my sis 3 tries later, hehe).  Finally got David to call me.  Learned he couldn't call earlier because he was so excited he couldn't talk.  

To make a really long story short, or maybe medium length, OK just longish, when David got home, there was mucho hugs, kisses, and happy tears.  So what, you might ask, would make me behave so ridiculously?  Well here's the big news!  We're moving to Houston in July, because come August, David will officially be a Texas Longhorn . (Excited face!)  He got accepted into UTDB in Houston!  So yes, we've had a perma-smile ever since.  I'm sooo proud of my David.  He's worked hard to get to where he's at, and he never gave up.  It does my heart good to know that he's going to be able to do what he loves, for the rest of his life.  The reason we moved to Amarillo was for David to work at getting into dental school, so our prayers have been answered. HE DID IT!  So watch out Houston, and watch out world!  Here comes Dr. Dave!  He's got a long four year road ahead of him (I think I should be saying WE have a long 4 yr road ahead of us, haha), but I know he's going to accomplish great things. Congratulations to you, my David!  I know Grammy is so proud of you!  It's definitely been a better year already.  Houston, here we come!

What I'll Miss the Most...

Her laugh. Gram had a great laugh! Dave was so good at making her laugh...loved it!

Wow, she could cook! She always was cooking when we were over there--breakfast, lunch, & dinner. She insisted. And she ALWAYS had the best treats.

Her pretty hair. I don't think her hair ever looked bad.

The cards she'd send to us with "presents" at EVERY holiday, even if it was a little one.

The little pictures she'd draw for us in the holiday cards she sent...turkeys, clovers, hearts, pumpkins, etc. The last one we got had turkeys on the envelope and in the card. :)

(Kabree 'Rose' Day'ton' Sterzer)

How she was always worrying about us. I always told her "not to worry" but I'm grateful that she loved us so much that she did always worry about us.

Her being at every important thing that's happened in our lives. She never missed anything! My last 2 b-days in TX were the first ones IN MY LIFE that she hadn't been there to help me celebrate, and it was my fault! (b-days are big in my family!)

She took the entire family out when we'd get together. A fav was Papa Tom's in IF, or anywhere we wanted to go when we went to visit. She always got pizza with sliced tomatoes on it.

I'd secretly catch her reading her scriptures or saying her prayers. What an example!

Our weekly if not bi-weekly phone calls. She'd call us to see how school, work, dr appts, & church stuff was going. Or just to talk. I called her on my way home from the hospital often. I miss these calls A LOT. A lot.

Her hugs, my Rosie O'Neal nickname, her stubborness, her pink lipstick, her garage sale finds.

She spoiled us...seriously, we were spoiled!

She treated David like he was her grandson before we were even married. She told me before she died what a good man he is, that she loved him like he'd always been her grandson. :')

She helped raise me. She literally was like another mama to me.

Mostly I'm gonna miss her.

Our Grammy passed away on Christmas Eve. Needless to say, it was a hard Christmas! What a blessing we were able to be in Idaho with our family when it happened. Grammy was an amazing woman, and we feel so blessed to have had her as a part of our lives. She taught us so much, and we have TONS of wonderful memories to remember her by. We're going to miss her terribly, but we know that we'll see her again. Families are forever!

WE LOVE YOU GRAMMY JANE!!!

Here's to 2010!

Out with the old, in with the new. We've decided to give 2009 a permanent title for the record books. 2009 is officially "The Year of Tuff Stuff". Seems only fitting...it really was a tough year. We look back and see this: lots of funerals, lots of tears and heartache when dealing with "tuff stuff", being away from family, being in limbo with where we're going with our lives, getting diagnosed with Hashimoto's, etc. BUT, 2010 is here! This is a new year full of new beginnings. And it's going to be a good year. We'll make it be a good year...I think it's time for a good year. So here's to 2010!

STERZER TO-DO LIST

1- Run a hilly 5K in a triathalon with friends (Dave's team took 5th...Niiiice!)
DONE!

2- Harvest a pea...the only pea...the only thing to harvest...from our garden
DONE!

3- Go find some hot air balloons just lying around A-town
DONE!

4- Make a b-day cake for Kabe without her help
DONE!

5- Be in a chocolate pie eating contest so you won't want to eat choc pie ever again (Kabe won)
DONE!

6- Visit the American Quarter Horse Museum

DONE!

7- Cook our first whole turkey and have Thanksgiving dinner while being brave because we're all alone for Turkey Day for the first time ever (It was wonderful! We fat-dogged it for like 8 hrs after cuz we ate too much)

DONE!


8- Sight in Dave's rifle so he can go hunting
DONE!
9- Shoot a deer

Still workin' on this one

10- Shoot a turkey (how about 3 in one shot?)

DONE! DONE! DONE!

11- Get a sweet new niece, Hadley Sue (Amy had her! YAY! 4lbs 9 oz & doing awesome)

DONE!



12- Pack it up so we can go to Idaho for Christmas
Work in progress...
13- Wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!!

DONE!

14- Realize how wonderfully blessed we are

DONE!

I (this is Kabe) love the holidays! I love the warmth that comes from celebrating the birth of our Savior, from spending time with family, from giving to others, from the beautiful lights, from the love everyone seems to have. I always get way emotional around Christmas time for some reason. I don't know what it is, but I'm pretty sure I tear up at least every other day, if not every! I'm a mess at church, when I talk to Dave about Christmas/life, and I even teared up when I saw a house last Sunday that was decorated with gorgeous lights. David and I saw the movie The Blind Side last week and I bawled thee whole movie! Forget staying dry while I'm visit teaching, or after talking on the phone to family. But the best part about this whole I-can't-control-my-emotions-during-the-holidays thing is that it's all for HAPPY emotion. I LOVE IT! It's embarrassing, but I love it. I hope everyone can take a bit to enjoy the wonderful feelings, reflection, and warmth that encompasses this time of the year. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU ALL!!!!!!! Mucho Amore, and for some of you, we'll see you soon!

PS--Had a slight malfunction with my blog list, so if you're reading this and you don't see your name in my blog list, please let me know what you're blog address is again. I've blog stalked as many people as I could find off family's blogs, but I'm having a hard time finding everyone. THANKS!

Spoiled

David went to Madison, WI this past week for the World Dairy Expo. He called every night to tell me about all the crazy stuff he'd seen that day. He even recorded a video of the craziness for me to see. I thought I'd share it on here for you all to see! (you can thank me later) Ohhhhh to be a prize winning cow with superior genetics and worth lots and lots of money. And I thought I was spoiled...

In Loving Memory

August has been a hard month! Looking back now, I'm thankful for everything that came about. I really think it's made me evaluate where I'm at with life, and what I need to change to be better. I think when bad things happen, people have a tendency to think like this. But I guess I needed a jumpstart to do better.

It was hard to be away from David while I was in Idaho. He's my best friend! I missed him sooo much! But as I said in my last post, I don't think it was a coincidence that I was home in Idaho when we found out that 3 of our family members from there in Paul had passed away. Tender mercy! What a blessing that I was there and on break from school.
My uncle Ron, and my two cousins, Jed and Jordan, were tragically killed in a plane crash on August 7. What a huge blow to the Mingo family, and everyone who loved them! Of course, memories flooded in for all of us...memories of Uncle Ron teasing us and joking around and how he'd come watch me play b-ball in high school, of Jed telling about his adventures and how he loved flying, of Jordan when he stayed over at our house growing up, his sports records, his cute lit'l family. It really made me grateful for our families. Everyone really pulled together and you could feel the love pouring out to my sweet Aunt Regina, for Jordan's wife Shelley and their 3 kids ranging from 4 yrs to 4 months, and for all the Mingo girls. I can't imagine losing your husband and your 2 sons. I can't imagine losing your husband with 3 little kids at home. I can't imagine losing my dad and my only two brothers! I just can't even imagine, but I know that Heavenly Father must have something really important for them to do on the other side. What a blessing it is to know of the Plan of Salvation, to know that we will see them again!

None of us know what our mission is here on this earth, and we don't know when our time here will be done. I just hope that I can live in a way that I'll be prepared to go, no matter what. These three amazing men were prepared and ready, and I know they're doing amazing things on the other side of the veil. I feel very blessed to have known them, and to have been able to have them as a part of my life. My prayers continue to go out to all the Mingo's and their families. And I appreciate the prayers, love, and words of comfort to my family, too. So please go and give your husband or wife, your kids, your mom and dad, your brothers and sisters a huge hug and tell them you love them! When I finally saw David after all this came about I hugged him harder than I ever have! If you're reading this, then please know how much you also mean to me! If you'd like to get some inspiration, visit the blog that was created by Shelley's family during this whole ordeal. It starts from the very beginning when the men were still missing, to when their plane was found, to the funeral, up to now. Shelley has even written some posts that will bring you to tears...she's an inspiration! http://www.wherearethemingos.blogspot.com/ If anyone would like to make a donation on behalf of Shelley and her three kids, please go to that blog and scroll down til you find donation info on the right-hand column.

To Uncle Ron, Jed and Jordan: Thank you for inspiring me. Thank you for all the fun memories! Thank you for strengthening my testimony and helping all our families rally together. Thank you for helping me remember what's truly important in life. We love you and you will be greatly missed! God be with you til we meet again.

This picture speaks for itself

Shelley with her three sweet babies

My aunt with all her daughters

They were buried right by my grandpa's grave.