what's up

So I have been scanning a bunch of people's blogs and enjoying having this convenient way to get caught up on their lives a little bit. So I thought I would catch all my faithful blog visiters up on my life...or lack thereof. I don't have fun pictures or anything exciting like that but here goes.
I am working at the Kiwanis Center for Child development. I love it, it is full time and soon I will have benefits...yeah for health insurance! I hope to be working there for a long time. I am living (since early February) with Sandy Boxell and her kids Nikki and Taylor. Another arrangement that I hope will last for a long time. I am presently a member at Cornerstone Community Church but have been visiting and considering another church in town, Christ Community Church. I won't go into all of that decision making process here but ask me about it next time you see me and maybe you can help me make a decision! Both churches are amazing and so the choice is difficult.
Let's see, there isn't much exciting going on in my life as my daily routine doesn't leave a lot of time for trips or adventures. Although this past weekend Stefi and I went out to Pinson mounds and got lost..that was kind of fun until we figured out that we were lost and ended up hiking for a hour when we just wanted to go for a walk then lay out in the sun!
Right now I am reading Great Expectations...it's really fun to go back and read all those books I pretended to have read back in high school. They are good books but I sure wasn't going to read them back then! I don't know how I got such good grades in English class...it was usually my only good grade on the report card and I did the least amount of work in it!
Well, that's all I can think of for now! I feel like I have rambled so I will try to be more interesting next time!!!

Needed: More prayer warriors

This is a family that never fails to put my life into perspective. I check Anna's website everyday to see updates on how she is doing. I don't think I have even in my life prayed for anyone as much as I have prayed for Anna. I dream of the day that I hear about Anna having a 24th birthday ball too. And I believe that God hears the prayers of His people. Her website is http://www.caringbridge.org/ok/annajane/. Check up on her, pray for her and her family. Below is a bit of her story and her mom's latest journal from her site.

Anna was diagnosed with Hepatoblastoma on February 24, 2005. She had a liver resection the next day and then went through four rounds of chemotherapy. The chemotherapy failed to fully remove the cancer so she had a living-donor liver transplant at DuPont Children's Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware on June 24, 2005. Anna's cancer came back in her new liver in May 2006. She received a second liver on July 23, 2006. Unfortunately, this too, failed to remove all of the cancer. Anna continues to undergo chemotherapy and will have another surgery in February to try to get rid of the tumor once and for all. This web page was created to help keep our friends and family updated on her progress.

Journal
Saturday, March 17, 2007 8:53 PM CDT

"Mom, is it going to be a long time before I grow up?""Yes, why do you ask?""I want to be big so that I can live on a farm."In case I haven't mentioned it, Anna aspires to be a farmer's wife. (How about it Lynda T.? Any chance we could visit the Ranch this week during Spring Break? )We went to the park today and took pictures. A big thank you to Ali Parker and my friends at Kirkland for giving us a photo shoot. It was a beautiful day and Anna was feeling good. The session started out a little crazy. Right after we got there Richard and I had to rush Anna behind a bush to pee. While we were gone, one of Jacob's molars fell out. We returned to find Jacob with a wad of bloody kleenex hanging out of his mouth. I didn't expect much after that, but it turned out okay.

We were SO thankful to be able to take a picture of all four kids today. It was exactly one year ago that we kissed Anna goodbye when she was dying of an aneurysm. It was also one year ago that they were able to stop the bleeding and save her life. (See the journal history if you don't know what I'm talking about.) This year, the good and the bad, has been a gift. We celebrated tonight at a Japanese steakhouse. The kids loved the show--especially the fire. Will and Anna kept asking our chef to make the fire over and over again. Anna said she wants to eat there every time we go out to eat. (I don't know who she thinks is going to pay for that!)Love, Marlo

My b-day ball

For my 24th birthday party a few of my friends threw me a masqerade ball. It was a blast. Everyone dressed up in masks, many were decked out in ball dresses and costumes. Here are the only pictures I have received so far of the party.

The first one is of my and my oldest neice Sahara. All of my nieces were dressed up as Indian princesses...so cute. This next one is of Bria (Saraha in the background) and the last one is of Tirza making a silly face. In this picture of Tirza you can see some of the decorations they did...they really went all out!

I will post more pictures when I get them...