Monica - just a great photo

just had polished the table...that shine didn't last long...but what a great picture eh?

Collin

Although he can drive me batty at times I'd like to share a little story. Collin often wakes in the middle of the night and wanders into Tim and my room and says "daddy, can I sweep wif you?"

Of course we say yes and then he cuddles up next to Tim and all is well again. Tim and I often go to bed with 2 in the bed and wake up with 4 in the bed. (Monica often climbs in too)

Anyway, the other morning I woke and got Monica and myself ready, Tim had already left for work, and headed downstairs. I left Collin behind, sleeping peacefully in our bed under a piles of covers. After a few minutes I heard his little voice calling out to me. "mommy, c' mere" "mommy, I need you" Seeing as I was getting bowls of cereal poured for the rest of the gang I felt a little irritated by his request. I trudged up the stairs and with a look of annoyance on my face I entered our room and huffed out a snippy "What Collin?" He wasn't phased. He just said "c'mere and lay down wif me mommy" I said ok and I cuddled up in the spot next to him on the bed. ( See I NEVER turn down an opportunity to lay down you know) He reached out his warm little hands and took my face in them. He looked right into my eyes with his nose almost touching mine and said "Mommy I wuv you. You're so beautiful and you're my best friend." I just told him I loved him too and marveled at how sweet he can be for no apparent reason. I TRY to remember this moment when he's doing less sweet things to his sisters or sneaking in the cabinets to search for hidden candy. But I must say - all in all he's a loving, sweet boy and I am so glad that God gave me my son!

Monica - Making January Better

Everybody knows I hate winter.

This was another cold January day.

But the girls put Monica in a little dress up dress

and suddenly I forgot how crappy January can

be. All I could do was smile and run for the

camera!!

Morgan's Birthday - Just Us

Tim got a cake FULL of frosting and red dye - Yikes! and we celebrated Morgan's B-day just the 6 of us...Can't believe she's 9. It really has flown by!

Barb, Alex, and Nate

These are older pics I just now got around to downloading ...

Old friends from St. Liborius in Steger came out for a visit. Collin LOVED having another boy to pal around with. Can you tell?

No Cross - No Crown

Reviewing my most recent blog posts I am reminded of a saying of Father John Corapi's. "No cross - No crown" Of course Jesus is the King of Kings and He surely did NOT require a cross in order to wear His crown! But this statement is rather directed at us. You and me. I am reminded that my laundry, my nausea, my "stress" are all little crosses I am to carry. They are, in fact gifts to me if I choose to use them in the proper fashion. They can help me be a better, holier person, who persists on the path towards The Kingdom and longs to wear the humblest of crowns as a little princess and servant of the King!

It's Been a Very Bad Week

this sums up my week...

I MISS MY SISTER !!!

This is a picture of Kelly and I at ages 4 and 8. Kelly is my one and only sister, my one and only sibling. She lives across the Atlantic! She is living there PERMANENTLY! This makes it impossible to stop by for lunch or to invite her over for coffee, or to help one another with mounds of laundry!

Kelly and I are different in many ways, yet we have similar lives filled with children, noise, and at times, chaos! I guess it goes without saying that the noise and chaos come along with the children part. We both love our families and love our vocations - motherhood. We both tend to be "yellers" and eat junk when depressed or stressed (preferably something chocolate) We try to carry our little "crosses" with quiet humilty, but we've been known to have a "total meltdown" complete with cursing and crying from time to time as well!

This is why I miss my sister so much. She is one of the few (very few) people in my life that I can be totally REAL with. I don't have to pretend I've got it so together. I don't have to shine my kid's imaginary homeschool halos, or pretend that I'm a Martha Stewart meets Mother Teresa. I can just be me - Kris - imperfect, unorganized, emotional, hot-tempered, yet lovable - Kris.

This has been an excruciatingly BAD week! It's the kind of week that makes me long to have my sister (within driving distance) to call on for a big S.O.S. !! Ah, where do I begin? Let me set the stage by describing my physical conditions. I am in a constant state of nausea (due to the pregnancy for those of you who missed that post...I'm about 9 weeks...) Always drooling, occasionally heaving and gagging, but alas, never going all the way. No puking here, just a lot of drooling into the kitchen sink, and choking back a gag while browning ground beef for taco meat.

Currently these foods induce a gag reflex - ground beef, chicken, salad, any fresh vegetable, cooked broccoli or cauliflower, and any luch meat or cheese. This leaves the "going right to my butt" foods like bread, potatoes, rice, any kind of sweets and fruits. There goes the "I'm not gonna gain any weight 'til the second trimester" resolution I make with every pregnancy!!!

Then there's the sudden drowsiness. A math lesson on the couch with Mary Grace turns into a spontaneous nap for mom and an excuse for the kids to sneak off and avoid school "until she wakes up..." I am SOOOOOO tired.

Then there's the mental issues. These tend to "run in my family" as Tim likes to joke. I'm stressed to put it simply. It's cold, it's dark, it's winter. I hate winter. Even if I did bundle the kids up and kick them outside for a ten minute "burn off" period, I'd have to remove the approxiamately 50 piles of dog poop which cover the entire front half of our backyard as of now!! Why do I have a dog again? Sigh.

Then there's the laundry. There's the usual - stained shirts and and stinky towels etc. But on top of that this week we had an unusual number of nightime accidents and a lot of rotating sleeping arrangements which ended up in 4 beds having to be stripped down and ALL of that bedding to be washed as well! This led to a giant log jam of sorts in our small 8 x 8 laundry room which could move me to tears just looking at it!

Of course all of this mess is compounded by heaps of homeschool books, papers, math manipulatives, crayons, pencils, spilt glue all over the table, glitter on the floor, legos stuck in couch cushions, sippy cups left here and there, and a general dusting of crumbs, dried up rice from dinners past, and black dog hair to boot!

Now, on the to education of my beautiful children, created in the image and likeness of God. "Do we have to do school today?" "Mom, she's looking at me with an ugly face." "I hate math...crying wimpering etc. ...I can't do it mom" "I hate my brother...Collin runs off with the pencil bag, the girls are in hot pursuit, Collin is shoved from behind, the bag goes flying, the pencils cover the entire kitchen/family room floor...why did God give us him?" his sisters ask me. All of this and more with spelling, phonics, science, religion, math and reading sandwiched in between.

School's out on to clean up and then start dinner. Still haven't stepped foot outside and most likely I'm still in my pajama bottoms. Did I shower in the last 3 days? Better do that tonight. 6pm dinner time. No dad. He's at work. Workin' late. Tax season. I hate tax season!

Four kids around the table spilling half their food and complaining about the other half. The sight of it all makes me heave and gag and feeling woosy I sit on the swivel chair at the island and sip tea and eat another black licorice whip. (black licorice seems to curb my nausea, too bad it's enhancing my hips as well) Dinner's over. Time for cleanup - again.

6:30 to 7:30 pm - I've had it! No more Mrs. Nice Mom. Things always seem to get ugly at about this time and this is when I'm most suceptable to meltdowns. Everybody gets their p.j.'s on and brushes their teeth. (or so they say) and I start watching the clock and counting down the minutes 'til Tim will be getting home...

around 8pm I hear the glorious rumbling of the garage door as it moves up its track. My heart leaps for joy - Ah, sweet relief! I can finally tag my partner and exit the ring.

Kelly "gets" this scenario and she knows just what to say and NOT to say when I call her to vent about it. It is good to say things like "That sucks" or "I hate it when that happens" or "me too"

Things NOT to say are "you know what you should do..." or "I just read a book on household organization and it says..." or especially NOT "well, that's not so bad..."

My sister always, and I mean ALWAYS says how much she'd love to be here with me so she could help me out. And 'cause it's Kelly, that's not just hot air. She really MEANS it. Too bad she's an ocean away. I MISS MY SISTER !!!

My thoughts on the LIE that is abortion...

This is a sensitive issue I know. I don't pretend to have ALL the answers to all the questions that arrise when this issue - abortion - comes up. What I DO know is that it is a very deceptive "choice".



I understand the deception very well for two reasons. One, because I myself am a woman who had an unplanned pregnancy at a time in my life when everything was already turbulent and confusing. Two, because I have met women who have had an abortion and I have seen their lives become filled with pain, not a solution....



This issue is one close to my heart. I love babies, yes. But I also love womanhood. Both are killed in an abortion. The big LIE is that this one choice will make all the shame and humiliation of this pregnancy go away. The shame is really what I think, personally is hardest to bear. I remember being in church with a round belly and NO RING on my hand and just weeping in the pew. I was not a "good girl". I was impulsive and irresponsible and trashy. I felt all eyes looking at me when most likely they really weren't.


But, this is how Satan works. He take our God-given sense of sin and turns it on us like a weapon. It is GOOD to feel a sense of shame when we have truly gone against God's laws. That is what beckons us to seek redemption!! Good shame is a call to seek out Jesus not a knife to be turned on oneself.


The deception lies in the promise of the removal of this shame, this burden. "If you simply rid yourself of "the evidence" your shame will disappear with it." This is the LIE he tells women. Sadly, in fear and despair many women make this choice because they feel there is no other answer. There is - Jesus. Whatever judgement or ridicule this world may put upon a woman who carries a child that is damaged, or inconvenient, or a sign of her own sinfullness. Jesus loving MERCY is so much greater!

I thank God for giving me the grace I needed at that time to persevere and push through the shame in order to break out into the other side which was all love and light! No matter what the circumstance we find ourselves in during pregnancy, at the end of it all we are left with God's greatest miracle - a newborn baby.

The twisted thing about Satan's ugly LIE is that in the end women actually don't shed their shame when they leave the clinic. They instead increase it! The scars they carry run deep and Satan loves to twist the knife in them all through their lives. They'll never remove the knife of shame he's stuck in them until they go to the Healer of Healers and ask Him to take it from them. Satan tells them that they deserve to feel the pain and shame every day and that they can never be rid of it. But, that is just another of his LIES!

Women need to know that they are victims too. Just as their baby was destroyed, so too was a part of them destroyed. Their very womanhood was taken from them along with their baby. What makes a woman special? What sets her apart from men? Our ability to carry a child and cooperate with God in establishing a new home for another SOUL is the defining characteristic of woman. Even those who never have children still carry the place within them which is considered sacred by God. For He Himself chose to enclose Himself there, rather than to descend to earth on a cloud or other grand manner. Jesus Himself made his very first home in the womb of His Mother. THAT is what makes being a woman so grand and mysterious!

Satan of course wants to deny the power of womanhood. He hates womanhood more than he hate man. His pride and vanity makes him loathe the awesome power given to woman to cooperate intimately with God in CREATION. This is something even the angels themselves cannot do! So, he sets out to destroy that which is filled with mystery and that which draws women closer and closer to God Himself - Motherhood.

I love babies, yes. I morn the loss of over 40 million babies since Roe v Wade. I get VERY ANGRY with radical feminists that talk about women's rights and "empowering" women!!! What a LIE! Abortion doesn't empower women. It doesn't give them more control over their lives. It ENSLAVES them to a life of sorrow and shame!! There is no freedom in deception only in the Truth are we free. I feel passionately that we as pro lifers must do two things in order to change this situation. First we must let people know what abortion REALLY does to the little babies. It is NOT a pleasant thing!! Secondly, we must embrace our wounded sisters and show them that there IS redemption and healing!!

The annual March for Life was held again in D.C. this past Jan. 22nd. I watched it on tv. I am hopeful that the tide is turning. Let us all pray for the women of the nation to EMBRACE the mystery of their own bodies and not see their bodies as an ENEMY any longer!!

Oldies But Goodies

I just HAD to put these old photos up! They are all old by now, but they're some of my favorites. God has blessed me and blessed me abundantly!

Me - Drawn to gram's side by the powerful force called "baby"










Gram - telling a story and making that "face".



















Gram had a profound love and respect for priests. here she's holdin' Fr. Clem's hand.
















Here with Fr. Don and Stephanie.

Leona

Today I was going through boxes of pictures. In one, I found a couple of envelopes. Inside there were a few letters I'd kept. Some were from the Kairos Retreat I went on and then lead in high school. Others were just some special letters I saved. Two of these letters were from my grandmother.

I began crying even as I simply unfolded them. Seeing her handwriting was enough to bring back the memory of her hands and how they looked holding a pencil or a pen. I flashed back to watching her do crossword puzzles at her kitchen table and looking at her hands, bumpy with blue purple veins, but also soft and browner than mine. I can see those hands doing a lot of things. Peeling potatoes into a dented metal collander or crimping the edge of a pie crust...

Well anyway, I opened the letter and cried as I read these words:

October 5th,1991

Dear Kristan,

Just a few lines to tell you how much I love you and how glad I am to have you for a grand-daughter. I'm not very good at expressing my feelings but I'm sure you know how very much I love you. You have always been a joy to me to have around especially when I'm feeling low-down. You make things seem a lot better for me.

I especially remember times when grandpa was still with us and you would try to cheer me up because he was feeling so bad and he would be cross to me.

Needless to say you are much loved by me and no matter how things turn out for you - I will always love you!

Love and Prayers,
Grandma Maxwell

























I'm actually crying again as I re-write this letter onto the blog...I miss her so terribly!!! I am often at a loss for words to explain how connected I was to this woman. She was so much who and what I wanted to be when I grew up. I knew her life was difficult and far from glamorous. I could see that as a child, and yet I still so wanted to emmulate her.
How I wish I could talk with her now and share my joys and my trials as a wife and mother. How I'd love to laugh with her and cry with her. I never got the chance to look at her eye to eye. I was always just a little girl looking up at her. I'm ashamed that I wasn't more a woman by the time I got to college, so that I could reap the benefits of having a real "grown-up" conversation with her.
But, like college often does, I stayed stuck in my youthful self-centeredness instead of maturing into a full fledged adult! It wasn't until I became a mother myself that I considered all the things I'd have liked to ask her and learn from her. Then, it was too late. She'd already been taken from me.
I do talk to her daily in prayer. I have a picture of the sacred heart on my kitchen window ledge with a picture of her fixed just below Jesus heart. I stand there at my sink and I look up at her there. Once again, I'm looking up at her. I say to her "I love you gram. I miss you. I hope to make you proud." I can't wait to see her again. That is a great motivator for me - Do your best, try not to complain, and love, love, love them all!!

The Man I Love

The other day driving home something small but meaningful occured to me. I was all alone in the car with the music going - REALLY LOUD! I was so happy. A moment of freedom. I started down a path of self pity and also self importance. I started to think..."Gee, I never get away...I never go anywhere...look how easily I'm pleased, a little music and a drive and you'd think I won the lotto!..."

Then, I stopped. I stopped dead in my mental tracks. I looked at where I was - literally. Then, I thought better. I thought..."Wow, here I am driving a new car - a suburban...Tim worked so hard for this - he loves us so much...he just handed me the keys and said here you go Kris without any expectations at all...He gets up while we all sleep in the morning and often leaves before we're up...he wears worn out shoes and the same ol' pants and never complains..."

I realized at that moment that although I do so much for my family, I often also do a lot of "poor me-ing" that Tim NEVER does. Sure, I get to do the dirty work of laundry and diapers, but he carry's a burden of responsibility I really can't understand. HE IS the source of strength and perseverance that keeps this family running. I suppose if I were to use a car analogy it'd be like this: Tim provides the gas and I provide the daily maintenance that keep it in running order and together we both have a hand on the wheel steering the whole thing in the proper direction. But without him, we could not be. I love him for that. I love him for his hard work, his friendship, and his humor - especially his humor!

Since the day I met Tim, so long ago at the DQ in Carbondale, Il, he's been taking care of me. He met me at one of the lowest points of my life. Actually, I think it was THE lowest point. But, we found things to laugh about and joke about and soon he became the best friend in the world to me. He still is.

Those who know me, know that Morgan was a beautiful surprise to us. But, this disorder and anxiety of our lives back then never got to Tim. He was unwavering in his dedication to me and our little one. He gave up school and came up north here to work and once again take care of me and now our little one too. He worked long hard hours at Applebees in the kitchen. He worked his ass off! And then worked some more! NOT ONCE did he ever complain or show any kind of resentment towards me or my now growing belly. He WANTED to take care of us!

Then, he enrolled at Gov's State and started school along with work. He'd go to school all day and then work all night. He'd arrive home to our apartment around 2am and then he'd take a shower. Oh, how that greasy kitchen smell stunk!! Then he'd hit the books! He did this for almost three years. In the midst of all this of course was Morgan's birth. How joyful and happy that little apartment was. The brown shag carpet, the musty stairwell, the lack of furniture - none of it mattered to us. We went on laughing and celebrating our family together. I miss it kind of - the simplicity of that life was very humbling and purifying. It made me a better person. I thank God for it all!!

Also, Tim didn't let our circumstances, humble as they were, scare us into a lack of trust in The Almighty and His plans for us. You see, despite the shock and outright discouragement we got from other people, we were open to life. If that was what God planned for us then He was in charge. So, before Tim had finished school we were blessed with another baby - Mary Grace. What a graduation day for Tim. As he walked across that stage to get his diploma his family was there cheering for him. Two little girls were cheering their daddy on and I couldn't have ever loved Tim more than I did at that moment. Not because of the degree, but because of all the sacrifice and hard work I knew had gone into getting it. He did a hell of a lot more to EARN his degree than most average college students I know.

Then, with our focus on God and His plan for our little family we took a leap of faith again. Tim, scrounged together enough money to get us all tickets to Ireland to go on a spiritual pilgrimage of sorts. Tim was a knew convert to the Catholic faith. (oh ya, in between all his working and studying, he went to RCIA classes too!) What a GREAT trip that was. Tim, me and the two girls, and a map of Ireland! We rented a car and Tim drove his little family all over to see the holy places in Ireland! Once again we laughed and celebrated all the while. I ate up every moment and still can remember all the details of that trip like it was yesterday!

We have gone on to buy our first home and completely tear it up and re-do it again. Tim spent much time laying tile and cutting baseboard trim. I spent many a night re-plastering walls and painting, painting, painting. God blessed us again with a baby. This time a boy - Collin. We had a beautiful little home and nice neighbors and weren't too far from mom and dad. Then came another leap of faith.

We moved out here 3 years ago. It was difficult. But I have learned a very important lesson that Tim has been aware of already for years. I'd always say "Tim don't you get lonely? Don't you need friends?" and he'd say "that's why I've got you, Kris. You're my friend." I hated that answer. I was always searching for more...I am very close with mom and dad and mom especially I leaned on hard. Being out here, it is much harder to "lean on" anyone but Tim. I think I needed that. I needed to see that ultimately he IS my closest and dearest friend, and that when push comes to shove that that is ENOUGH.

Obviously I have friends and I still LOVE to talk mom's ear off. But, I've learned to say like Tim "I've got you - you're my friend." That, and also I've learned to call on JESUS a LOT more as well. There's nothing like a long bout of lonliness to get you praying and asking Jesus to help you out! That has been a real good growing experience for me as well.

Tim and I were blessed again with little Monica. Tim is working harder than ever. He puts in a lot of hours at work. It is often a very thankless job. He is naturally a dedicated and loyal employee - a rarity these days. He is very unappreciated. I guess that's what got me thinking the other day in the suburban...he has a thankless job and maybe I should be a little more thankful myself! God has been good to me. God has been so very very good to me.

Tim and I are now expecting baby number 5. They kids jumped up and down in the kitchen and then started running around with their hands in the air screaming like they'd just won the lotto! They are so excited! Tim and I are too. There's some nervousness because of my physical problems, but we believe that God will see us through. Once again Tim is taking care of me. He's not perfect - neither am I, but we see eachother clearly without pretense and we keep on loving eachother. That's what love is all about. I don't pretend you're perfect, but I choose to love you despite your imperfections.

Reason 1001 Why I Homeschool

These are pictures of Mary Grace dressed one school day here in our family room.

She is dressed as Saint Helen if you hadn't gathered that from the "royal" clothes, the crown, and the part of the True Cross she's holding. I was just searching through my online "albums" and came across these pics. It occured to me that this kind of thing is totally NORMAL at our house! I'm never phased by a child who asks "mom which should I be a nun or a martyr - or Both!?" Or a child who jumps up and down with GLEE when they tear open their Christmas gift to find a big fat book on the lives of the saints!

This is why I homeschool. So that my children can be filled with the joy and awsome wonder that comes from the innocence and purity I am able to DEFEND and PROTECT and NURTURE here at home! My kids are FREE to love the saints and dress up as them accordingly. They are free to have discussions over fishsticks and fries at lunch that range from "How long do you think I'll be in Purgatory?" That one started a hilarious examination of ALL of our behavior!!! To discussions like "why was St. Joseph only Jesus foster father? If he was REALLY married to Mary then wouldn't he be REALLY Jesus daddy?" This last one came from Mary Grace. That one! She's gonna push me to my intellectual and creative limit!!

Anyhow, I'm just glad that they're here with me getting the answers to these questions. I try my best to answer them BUT most importantly I NEVER make fun of them for the asking. I am SURE that all this kind of talk and celebrating of our Catholicity would NOT be thought "cool" in school!! In fact, in the time Morgan and Mary were both in Catholic School for goodness sake they both were seen as a little "too Catholic" as one child put it to Morgan... Enough said!

The Privilege of Being a Woman

The Privilege of Being a Woman is the title of a book.

( As usual I pick up 2 or 3 and start reading them simultaneously 'cause I just can't restrain myself enough to finish one and then go on to another...Currently it's The Fire Within, Life Is Worth Living, and The Privilege...) The Privilege...is written by Alice von Hildebrand and it was FANTASTIC!

It is an extremely easy read. Only 108 pages and very well organized. Basically it's about what it means to be truly woman or feminine. It looks at this point from a number of perspectives. The secular perspective, a biological and psychological perspective, and then the too often overlooked spiritual/mystical one.

It has a ton of noted refrences and that's great too 'cause I know that will lead me to other books. I've been leaning a lot more in the spiritual reading direction lately. I used to be a subscriber to politcal magazines and buy and read political books. Then I evolved into philosophy/persuasive argument books. Now I'm looking a lot more inward I suppose.

I came to realize that interest in politics can only be that really - interest. I can't TRULY effect change in that arena. Then there's philosophy and persuasive argument. These were helpful to me to help me to think more clearly about the WHY I believe what I believe. What I was yearning for was to get at my own root, my own wellspring. I am often VERY passionate about topics which lie close to my heart. My friends and close family have heard many a lecture/rant from me I'm SURE they'd rather not hear for the hundreth time!

I wanted to search for a path to get closer to God and to truly come to understand what He wanted from me. That's a question I've asked Him a lot. "What do You want from me God?" This question seemed frustratingly never answered. At least how I'd like it to be answered. Preferably in an audible, deeply masculine voice, booming from overhead saying "Kris, here's what I want you to do..."

Well, I KNEW that wasn't gonna happen. I was lead by the Spirit to look in two places. My own womanhood was the first place. OK, so at a minimum, I know that I am supposed to be a woman as God made me. That's a start. So, I read The Theology of the Body and other books explaining this by Christopher West. I listened to lectures from theology of the body conferences and went to hear Fr. Thomas Loya a national speaker on these topics.

I was awestruck! I felt like I had struck personal and spiritual GOLD! AhHa! At last this is what I've been searching for. It held the key to unlocking the mystery of ME! I knew better what God wanted from me and that gives me great peace and also a great sense of purpose and direction. Now, the Holy Spirit led me to a second place. I was nearer to myself, my spouse, my vocation, now I must be nearer to God. The second place I investigated was contemplative prayer. This is why I chose to read The Fire Within - about St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila's spirituality and their true intimacy with God.

I must say this is definitely the more challenging and demanding of the two. Understanding the mystical spritual nature of human sexuality and womanhood and manhood in all their glory is eye-opening. But, understanding and attempting to be prayerful and dedicated to prayerfullness in order to attain an intimate relationship with God Almighty is beyond eye-opening, it's earth-shattering!

The level of commitment required to truly give yourself to God is a level of selflessness that I am not prepared for I guess. But I WILL TRY. God sees me TRYING and I know that He must grin a little at all my feeble pathetic attempts. I imagine this as the way a parent grins at a poorly drawn picture by their child. The picture is out of proportion, two-dimentional, simply FAR from a masterpiece! But, we love this little gift, this little drawing because it was given with love and it was our child's best attempt at re-creating something beautiful.

I thank God for my mind and my heart. I want to live out all my life learning more and more about Him and how to better serve Him. But more importantly, I want to live a life loving Him, the way He DESERVES to be loved. I'll keep trying. That's the best I can do!

"college" friends visit summer '06

Our "college" Friends

Tim and I attended SIU at Carbondale. I got there before he did. He was still active in the ARMY while I finished up my second year there. But we were destined to meet in the spring of 1995. Destiny and our place of work - The DQ on the edge of town. Tim the fry cook and me counter and icecream.
Needless to say we ate a lot of icecream and I recall Tim having quite a few chikn. strip baskets on lunch break! We shared work, and we also shared friends. We ended up holding on to two "college friends" through the years. Seems as if all the others just drifted away into a whole new life or sadly others are still stuck in college (mentally not literally)
But they say the cream rises to the top and so it does! Our only friends we still keep in contact with are truly high quality people. We are blessed to know them. Trisha and I don't see eachother as often as we'd like to and our hubbies are work-a-holics without a lot of time to go "visiting" so we rely on the phone and e-mails...
This leads me to these...Our summer visit. Trisha and her gang came up to visit me and mine...