Ronnie has officially begun his journey home! Though it will take him about 12 days to get here, he is relieved to be at least in the process. And I am relieved that he is not on the front lines. I cant wait to spend to two weeks with him starting on the 24th!!!

Continued Prayer

Please be praying for Ronnie. Things have been heating up in Afghanistan and many of the days are starting to look a lot like this....

picture taken by Ronnie

Busted

I have a confession. I had toast for dinner tonight. It could not be helped. There was NOTHING else to eat in my house. But before you judge me, know that I have now gone to the grocery and have replenished my food supply.
That is all.

Uncharted Waters

There are 2 days left of summer. Just 2. Hard to believe I start classes this Monday! But looking back on this past summer, I cannot help but realize how much things have changed and how much I have accomplished. I know that God has had his hand in each and every detail of my life this summer even when my life seems to be spinning faster than I can control. Here is a brief list of my summer:

1. Ronnie came home on May 15th and proposed to me that night. Magical.
2. Ronnie and I took a road trip to Oklahoma to visit his extended family and friends.
3. My sister Shelby graduated high school. Now I feel old.
3. In June, Ronnie began his year long deployment in Afghanistan. He has already seen many hardships and has scars to prove it.
4. I helped my family move into their beautiful new house in late June.
5. And so marked the beginning of my life in my own place. I've been busy decorating and organizing the condo since then. :)
6. I got my first "real job" as a hostess at Harry & Izzy's downtown. I love it.
7. I began summer courses as a transfer student at IUPUI.
8. I successfully completed a 12 page research paper on the war in Afghanistan.
9. I have been able to touch base with old friends from way-back-when and make new friends here in Indy.
10. Shelby left for Grove City College in Pennsylvania early this week to begin her new adventure as a high school grad.

In addition to all the "big" things that have happened this summer, there have been countless little events that have made this summer simply spectacular. With life heading in an uncharted direction, I am excited to see where this new school year takes me.

And then there was one...

Shelby left for Grove City College in Pennsylvania today. Cori has declared herself an only child for the first time in her life.
*sniff*

Kitten-Sitting!

Opie and I have had some quality time the past few days while the fam is out of town. It's been fun having someone to come home to. He gets all excited when I wake up or come home and follows me around the house. We've made up several new games like "get-the-window-stickers-off-the-mirror" and "attack-the-magnets-on-the-fridge."
And just to be fair, I will say that hammey is here too. He has been a cuddly little critter but not quite as interactive. :)

It's a scary world out there

I ended up working the crazy shift of Saturday night... I worked from 6pm to 12am at Harry & Izzy's during the annual Indianapolis Black Expo. I guess there have been problems with this event in the past so there were 4 to 5 cops on every corner and 2 in our restaurant "just in case." I was told there was an emergency plan "just in case" but that it had never been implemented.
Things ran fairly smoothly for most of the night.... I got all the server's names right, didn't drop anything, and the phone calls and people flow were relatively slow. Around 9:30pm however, things changed.
My manager Jenn, who was working as a Hostess with me, was assigning a table to a guest as I gathered up menus so I could walk the couple to their table. I glanced up to see a few people running south on Illinois St. I watched for a second before I saw a crowd of people start running. Before I knew it hundreds of people were running down the road. Within seconds, the crowd had the attention of both Jenn and I and the cop in our restaurant. The cop ran towards the door and turned to give me the 'cut throat' sign. I turned and repeated the sign to Jenn who promptly demanded, "What does that mean??" "I don't know!" I shrugged.
The managers on shift came running to the front and helped the cop lock the doors. We were on lockdown. The mob of people continued running down the road in confusion as the police tried to regain order, but the rumors had already started pouring in...
"Gun shots!"
"People shot!"
"In the mall"
"No! On the street!"
No one really knew what was going on. We all did our best to reassure guests that everything was under control, but no one could help but notice the lack of traffic on the blocked roads surrounding the restaurant. There were cops everywhere and crowds of people standing around the locked buildings. After about an hour or maybe more, people began to leave the restaurant via the mall as it was suggested that this was the safest alternative. Police escorts walked our restaurant staff to their cars. I called my dad [who had volunteered to drive me to work because of the events downtown]. After nearly an hour, Dad still couldn't make the normally 15 minute trip to pick me up. There were road blocks everywhere. On top of it all rumor had it that 9 people were shot, several less than a block from H&I's.
After some time, the police officer in H&I's decided to drive me a few blocks away to meet up with my dad. He buzzed through the police barricades and crowds of people still scattered about. I was ready to get out of the whole mess.
When all was said and done, 10 people were shot [none died] in downtown on Saturday night. The suspect of 9 of the shootings was brought into custody this afternoon, less than 42 hours after the events. All in all, it was quite an eventful night, but I never once felt afraid. The whole thing is scarier to look back on than it was to live. God, I'm sure, is the only reason for that.

See this story in the IndyStar by clicking below
http://www.indystar.com/article/20100719/NEWS02/7190325/Hard-questions-after-Downtown-shooting-chaos
http://www.indystar.com/article/20100719/NEWS02/100719021/Suspect-arrested-in-Indy-shootings

My Own Place!

There are pictures up now of my place. I think I'm finally about done unpacking and organizing. I think it's starting to feel homey. :)


http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2056667&id=1164330303&l=0b54185f5d

The New House!

What makes a house a home?

My parents bought a new house nearly two weeks ago. The evening the papers were signed, I started packing boxes. Mom went out of town for a week thereafter and Dad, the girls, and I packed the entire condo and moved it to the new house. The mess was horrific, but by the time Mom got home, they were ready to sleep at the new house. And me? I have the condo all to myself for now. I've been picking up new furniture and setting up my own little abode (with some help of course). I'm so excited to have a place of my own and to begin getting the things Ronnie and I will need to set up our house together. Ronnie has been excited to. He has been staying up-to-date on how things are coming along here even from Afghanistan and even sending me out to buy special touches for the condo from him. How sweet!