Four Years of Missing You

Prior to Tuesday, May 19, 2015, I was so hopeful for that year.  But that morning, I got a text message that shocked me to my core.  Granny had a stroke.  A couple of hours later, I got a phone call telling me that I should come home...there probably wasn't much time.

Alone in my car for five hours as I drove across the state of Missouri, I had a while to think.  I thought of every good thing about my Granny...how she loved others, how she cared for others, how she never thought twice about doing kind things for others.  She was a servant.  I thought a lot about my own life.  Where was it going?  What good thing did I have going?  My relationship with Jesus was more of an SOS-relationship.  I called on Him when I needed Him.

At that point, my mom had been inviting me to BSF (Bible Study Fellowship). Although we lived hours apart, the study was offered in St. Louis...in several different locations.  I had looked into it, but I never jumped at the chance to go.  She continued to invite me for four years.

I remember so vividly making a decision in my car that I was going to turn my life around...quit living for myself...and I was going to work on my relationship with Jesus.  I made a commitment that day to seek out a BSF class.  Unfortunately, BSF is on a schedule that coincides with the school schedule.  So they had already let out for summer break, and I had to wait until September to join.

I got to the hospital with time to spare, because she was still talking.  Her eyes were closed, but she was talking.  Her speech was slurred because half of her body was paralyzed, but she knew who I was and she automatically asked about Tyler.  He was in Detroit that week for work and wasn't with me. I talked to her. I held her hand.  I don't know how much longer it was before she didn't respond...it may have been a few hours.

My family is large.  We are weird.  We do things differently.  But we love Jesus.  The majority of us got to be there with her at the hospital...in her room...for days.  The staff at the local hospital was very kind to us in allowing us ALL to be there.  I grew up in a small town, so most of the staff knew us anyway.  But that's one thing I won't forget in all of this...the kindness they showed to us.

Granny taught little kids at church.  In fact, the Sunday prior, she was teaching.  She also taught a Sunday School for adults with mental disabilities.  She loved singing with her kids and adults.  She loved to sing with her grandkids.

Remember how I said we are weird?  One of the first holidays that Tyler spent with my extended family, a sheet of paper was passed out with music on it.  We gathered in a circle and sang before we prayed for the meal.  I'm surprised he's still around, in all honesty!! :)

So while Granny was in the hospital, we sang to her...hymns, children's songs, our family song...we even wrote the words to her favorite hymn on the hospital board. :)  I told you...we are weird.

We didn't know what to expect. We didn't know when Jesus would call her home.  So that evening, we all prayed together before we left the hospital.  We said our "see ya laters," and we headed home for some sleep.

It was a long few days.  On Thursday, my husband finally had made his trip to me.  He arrived at Granny's house at the same time the ambulance brought Granny home.  Granny absolutely hated hospitals and doctors.  We knew that she would rather be at home.  So we got permission to bring her home with the care of a hospice nurse.

We gathered in her home with no care of how quiet we should have been.  Granny loved her crazy family, and she would have loved having us all there.  Unfortunately, it was a party to send her Home.  The girls were celebrating awaiting her Homecoming with a tea party...which she also would have loved so very much.

On Friday, May 22, 2015, shortly after sunrise (her favorite time of day), Jesus called her Home.  I was truly so happy that she was no longer suffering here. But in the months to come, I was literally heartbroken.

Fall of 2015, I joined my first study in BSF.  That year, we were studying Revelation.  If you're not familiar with BSF, it is a very in-depth study.  I had no clue what I had gotten myself into.  Fast forward to December and we moved to Oklahoma City.  I knew that I wanted to finish out the study because it was so good.  I joined a class here, and I'm so glad I did!

As I look back on what Revelation taught me...it's that Granny was in heaven with her Savior.  As much as she loved her family, she loved her Jesus more.  She wouldn't want to come back here after meeting Him.  I was okay with that.

A Look Back on 2013

As 2013 comes to a close, I look back on the year and I see how much God has blessed us.

I am in complete awe as I look here and see what has been accomplished and what we've done.

In 2013, I made my word of the year, 'Grace.'

We bought a new-to-us car for Tyler.

We had our first B&B experience.

We vacationed at Walt Disney World {Here, here, and here}

We started a new way of eating.

I wrote for Young Wife's Guide.

We celebrated two years of marital bliss.

We had a getaway to celebrate those two years.

I quit my horrible job and got a new one!

We bought our first home!

I learned what grace really meant.

Overall, this year has been a milestone for us in our adult-hood.  We've made a lot of adult decisions, but it's been a fun year!  I am extremely blessed to get to do life beside my best friend.  

I hope and pray that your New Year will be blessed! :)

Busy Months

So these past few months have definitely been busy.  I kind of took an unexpected blogging break, but it's been a good break for me.  We've had a lot of life changes, and it has been a great time to just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Here's a look at what the last few months have held.

The same week that I left my job at hospice, we put an offer in on a house.  I started my new job at Charter Communications and have been there for 5 weeks now.  My mom came to visit and we decorated pumpkins.  I filled out the calendar for the month of October to realize how busy we would be.  

The first weekend in October, we had Christmas with Tyler's grandma and family. (She goes to Texas for the winter.)  The next weekend, we jetted home to my parents' house.  I rode around in the combine with my dad while he picked corn.  We celebrated my cousin and his beautiful bride with a wonderful reception filled with many people that I haven't seen in a really long time.  I saw a lot of my high school friends, and we took a picture with most of the original members of our Chris Jackson Fanclub (he was a deejay on the Christian radio station at the time). 

On our way back  to St. Louis, we made an important pitstop at the NRA Shooting Arms Museum that had recently opened at Bass Pro.  I celebrated National Accounts Payable week with my new company, complete with a pumpkin decorating contest!  We attended the wedding of my sister-in-law and new brother-in-law.  We cheered on (and are still cheering on) our Cardinals as they made their way to the World Series.  

I pondered and picked out paint colors for our new home.  We packed our lives away into boxes that would soon be unpacked in our new home.  We made time to attend a marriage conference given by Mark Gungor, which was ridiculously funny and in some ways, eye opening.  And last but not least, we attended a beautiful wedding of friends from our Life Group.

I feel refreshed and renewed from taking this break.  Even though it seems we've been going nonstop, at the same time, God has been speaking to me these last couple of months.  He is at work in me, and I'm excited to share some of those things with you as the time comes.

So if you've been wondering where I've been...I've been around.  I just haven't made blogging a priority.

2013 Float Trip

Back in June, I went to Tyler's family reunion.

I told him that if I had to go to his, he had to go to mine.

Besides, I'd been to his 3 different years and he'd never been to mine.

Fair trade, right?

I thought so.

Ours is always the first Sunday in August.

Always has and probably always will be.

It was on the calendar and I just know that he was counting down the days. :)

However, last weekend when I called my Dad, he said they had gotten a bit of rain.

Now that is a miracle in itself.

Normally the drought is in full-swing by now and the guys are in irrigation mode.

He told me that if it rains a bit more, we might go floating on Saturday.

That was okay with me...one of our family's favorite things to do is spontaneously go floating.

I say spontaneous because that's the only time we go floating...if we get rain.

Well, it was supposed to rain all weekend long!

But we decided to go anyway.  

It turned out to be a beautiful day!

My aunt, uncle, and 3 of their kids went with us...so there were 13 of us total!

My favorite time was on the way back home.

We were all in the van together playing games that our family is known for:

"Muck-a-luck" and "The Spelling Game."

Then we ended up singing songs that we used to sing on the road when I was a kid:

"Oh You Can't Get to Heaven...," "Oh How I Love Jesus," etc.

We laughed a lot.  

It did my heart so much good.

I had such an incredible day just hanging out with the people I love and getting to share it all with my husband.

He got a taste of what our family really is.

My dad really wanted to go zip lining...he wouldn't tell you how much, but you could definitely see it in his face.

My mom got to go with him...along with my brother, his girlfriend, and our cousin, Carl.

They had a blast!!

And of course, I recorded them...
so for your enjoyment:

Our 4th of July

Last Wednesday evening, Tyler and I headed down to Southwest Missouri.

We were headed to my parents' house to hang out for the weekend.

And by golly, it was a much needed weekend.

I have to admit...I wasn't around my phone much, so I only have a few pictures to share.

But I also admit that it was good to get away from social media for a few days.

We got a head start because we both got off work early.

I was thankful...I like to drive in daylight more than the dark.

I captured these pictures coming home Wednesday evening...somewhere between Marshfield and Lockwood.

We made up our own little shooting range in the backyard.

I think it was genius...but maybe because it was my husband's idea. :)

And I finally got to shoot my pink AR.

I know...y'all are jealous.

Well, you can come over and I'll take you shooting sometime. :)

I tried to work out a little bit while I was home.

I wanted to keep up with my Betty Rocker workout, which has been killer.

I've really been working on my form rather than reps.

It's been really good for me.

I walked only a couple of days.

I really hate walking the gravel roads, but it was a gorgeous week so I was going to take advantage of it!

On the actual 4th of July, we had no where to be.

So we hung out at Sonic and ate supper together. :)

I loved it.

Our party was on Saturday.

Every year since 1999 (or maybe before) and with the exception of the year 2011 (we got married), my parents' have hosted a 4th of July party.

My uncle buys the best fireworks and gives us a show.

He loves fireworks...it's like his Christmas.:)

We invite my Dad's family and my Mom's family...and a few friends scattered in there.

We have some of the best food around.

This year was no disappointment.

We had fantastic food, and what I would say were the best fireworks ever.

Seriously fun stuff.

We also had some yard games, which were so fun to play!

It was a wonderful weekend.

I loved being home and being with family.

There's no place better to be.

This week, I'm back to the grind.

It's hard to come back from a long weekend.

Did y'all have a good weekend?

What kind of fun did you have?

There's No Place Like Home

This weekend went by in a hurry.
I was not ready to come back, but here I am.

Saturday, we went up to see my Granny. 
My aunt and cousins were there, and we spent an hour or so just sitting outside talking.
My Granny lives about 3 miles west of my parents.
Her house is considered, "The Farm."
This is where the guys' shop is, as well as most of the machinery.
My dad farms with one of his brothers, and my brothers help in the summer and on some weekends during the school year.
I grew up helping out on the farm as well.
**For my brothers' sake, I'll mention that I didn't help near as much as them, but I still put my time in.**
Although I'm living it the city now, I still love getting back to the country.
There's just something about the dirt roads, 4-wheeler rides, and quiet that I love.

My mom's knockout roses were absolutely gorgeous, so I made everyone take pictures after church on Sunday.

I love her sass in this picture.

We played a lot of games this weekend:  Monopoly Deal, Farkle, Wii.

I know my dad would have loved to have been able to be in the field this weekend, but I'm selfishly glad that he got to be home and spend time more time with us.

I also love that he plays the Wii with us. :)

Applesauce made me sad this weekend. 

Yes, that is our dog's name.

My brother named him...because he looks like applesauce.

Anyway, Applesauce is 15 years old.

He's losing ability in his back legs so he drags his feet.

You can tell he isn't himself because he doesn't run much anymore.

Well, he came in and was laying beside me (which is also hard for him to do), and he kept looking at me.

I knew that couldn't be comfortable, so I put a pillow under his head.

I think he liked it. :)

We also raided my parents' freezer before we left.  

We got all kinds of steak and a brisket and some hamburger.

Yum.

And this barely fit in our freezer. :)

One last thing...

We are still celebrating 200 likes on our facebook page!!

Have you "liked" it yet?  

You can get the latest information regarding shop promos and items there!

You can get 25% off our purchase in the shop through this evening!!

There are also some discounted items in there as well!!

Hope you have a wonderful week!!

Did y'all do anything fun this weekend?

I'd love to hear about it!!

Bunton Christmas 2012

My parents' house is magical at Christmastime.
My mom just really knows how to decorate.
And I didn't even get it all!!

These are just some scenes from my family Christmas:
Opening gifts at 11:00 pm.  I have never done that before.
Playing Monopoly Deal.
Playing the Wii.  I love that my dad plays with us!

We had Bunton Christmas at my Granny's house on Saturday.
It included:

• looking at old Family Calendars
• looking a pictures from past mission trips (my brother is giving his "report" in the picture above)
• singing Christmas carols (and yes, my Granny at 83 years old still plays her piano)
• going around and telling a favorite Christmas memory from this year
• My cousin, Carl, reading out of Matthew 2
• My cousin, Luke, reading a poem he wrote for my Granny (which left us all in tears)
• receiving this year's family calendar
• and going to church together on Sunday morning (my cousin Conrad is my Granny's buddy).

I am so blessed to have an extended family that always gets together to celebrate the birth of our Savior.  We all love the Lord, and it's so awesome to see it.  We are a crazy bunch of people, but anyone would do anything for anyone else.  I love them!  And I love that my husband is just as crazy and fits right in!! :)