WE'RE DEBT FREE!

You read right!!  We are officially debt free!  Wow!  It feels good to write that!  (Can you tell how excited I am?)  We have actually been debt free for about a week, but with everything that has been happening lately I just haven't had the time to write about it.  In seven months, we managed to pay off almost $40,000!  Boy does it feel good!!  I can't wait to see the doors that God opens for us to use his money to help others that come across our path.  Thanks Dave Ramsey for kicking me back in line and getting me motivated.  It has only taken me until I was 30, before I realized the importance of living debt free.  I am so thankful that Taris and I agree on how we choose to spend and save our money.  The road hasn't been easy, but Taris has been VERY patient with me.  (Now we can start saving for that international bundle of joy that has been calling our name!)

Update on Roxanne

Roxanne is doing better, but the road of recovery will be long.  She has been showing signs of her old self a little more each day and we are so excited.  She now wags her tail when you say her name and is eager to run outside when Kacey gets a desire to go chase something out the doggie door.  She shows sign of feeling in her right leg, especially when she is having a running dream and she will move her leg when she is laying down.  She has not made the connection when walking yet, but I know it is just a matter of time.  She loves her time on the floor with me...because she seems to think that she has busted out of jail from her kennel.  Her favorite thing right now is to be able to go to the middle of the yard and just sit or lay and soak up the sun.  We have been so blessed with her recovery so far and are waiting for the ultimate miracle of her running and catching her ball...her first love.

National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Day

Today is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Day.  You can go here for more information about this nationally recognized day.  Obviously, it holds a special place in my heart.  Today, please remember and pray for all of those that have been affected by this tragedy.

Roxanne

This has been a really tough week and I can't tell you how excited I am that it is Columbus Day and thus have the day off.  On Tuesday, I came home to let out the girls and fix the fence.  I opened the doggie door, they all ran out, and I heard this awful screaming.  I looked outside and Roxanne could not move her back half.  She was trying to get up and just was crying out in pain.  I knew my vet closed at 6 and I needed to get her in the car.  I got everyone inside, locked the other two away, and quickly discovered that I could not lift 65 pounds of dead weight all the way into my car on my own.  I ran next door to get my neighbor.  She helped me load up Roxanne (in her car) and she drove me to the vet.  I quickly learned that Roxanne either blew a disc or she had suffered a spinal stroke.  (The disc is a much better outcome, so I was praying hard for that.)  The vet called ahead to the emergency room (where Abbie had her knee replacement) and Gena drove us there.  When we arrived, the surgeon was completing a procedure, so the on call vet did an initial exam and was able to give her some drugs to make her more comfortable.  The surgeon finally came in and after his exam, informed me that Roxanne had more than likely suffered a spinal stroke (or FCE).  They were going to do some tests and would be in a few to give me the bill.  (This place prides itself on money up front.)  Without thinking, I told them to do whatever they had to do, but Roxanne had to be OK.  (See, Taris picked out Roxanne...if it was up to me, we would be a one dog household.  With Taris deployed, I just couldn't handle it if she didn't make it.)  The doctor gave me a reality check of what the future might hold and the quality of life issues that would go along with that.  I sent Taris an email to call me.  The vet called that night to let me know that our worst fears were confirmed...a stroke.  Taris finally called at almost midnight and we Skyped about everything that happened.

The next morning, the vet called to let me know that Roxanne was able to move her back right leg and she could go to the bathroom on her own.    She has been home since Wednesday and we have been following the doctors orders to a T.  We do our exercises three times a day, only get out of the kennel to go potty and lay on the floor, and are trying to lose a few pounds (to make it easier for her to carry all of her weight on three limbs).  She has shown some movement in her left leg, but not when walking.  She is a fighter and has come leaps and bounds in just a few days.  They say that after about six weeks, what you have is what you get.  Obviously, we are praying for a full recovery.

I know that some of you might think that she is just a dog, but when you can't seem to have kids, these girls are all that keep me sane when Taris is gone.  They have seen me at my lowest and my highest and I couldn't imagine a life without them.  Hopefully I will have good news about her recovery to share soon.

I swear!!

I had every intention of playing catch up today on the blog, but I didn't get the memo from my laptop that it was going on hiatus!  The laptop (that acquired after the fiasco of the Charles de Gaulle airport) that I have only had since April 10th, decided to crash...and crash hard!  I called the warranty line only to discover that I could get my computer up and running right now, but I would lose everything.  The lady asked if I had anything important on it.  Um, YES!  Only all of my photos from the last time I saw my husband up to now!  She proceeds to tell me that I will need to contact someone to back up everything before we restore it.  She of course can't walk me through that...what was the price of the warranty for then, since I have to now pay someone to rescue my computer for me.  Technology is not as awesome as I always make it out to be!  Hopefully by the end of the week we will be up and running like nothing ever happened.