I Really Have a Wonderful Life

I do. Each morning I get to wake up to a wonderful, handsome man who greets me with several kisses, hugs and compliments! As I'm getting ready (and usually in a grouchy mood since mornings are not my thing), he just reminds me how much he loves me and continuously tells me how beautiful I am! :) I could be having the worst hair day, or feeling like my clothes don't fit right, and Aaron will still tell me that he is the luckiest person on earth (but really, I think I am the lucky one to have him). Yes, this man can put me into a very good mood. :) Yep...I have a wonderful life!

Aaron's also really good about giving me a quick call each morning to make sure I made it to work OK (it's a 20 mile commute every morning), followed by a "well, don't work to hard today my beautiful wife"! Yep...I have a wonderful life!

I am the Nutrition/Dietician savvy person in our relationship, but many times, Aaron will step in and help me cook. He also does the laundry (more times than not), and is so wonderful about cleaning house with me (or for me...haha). Yep...I have a wonderful life!

A person recently asked us if we fight a lot. The answer...NO. Sure, we have disagreements...don't get me wrong, but we have NEVER fought and we never have gone to bed angry. If something is bothering one of us, we make sure to talk about it before our eyes close that night. I don't think this person really believed Aaron when he told them that we really do not fight, but we don't. I give a lot of credit to the Marriage Prep Classes we were "forced" to take before we could get married. At first Aaron and I thought this was such a joke (come on, we are 27 and 34 afterall). But after the classes, we realize that they played a very large role in our attitude towards eachother! Yes, we have bad days and disagreements, but we have not fought once in the 2 years 9 months and 4 days we've been together!! Even in the recent hardships (the nerves in my mouth being inflammed to the point of possibly needing surgery, and finding out that Aaron will more than likely need back surgery), to all the ER trips we make b/c of my Sjogren's...yes, we have been through a lot together. Maybe that makes us stronger..I don't know. But I can tell you this...other than always putting each other first...GOD is our Merciful Savior and gives us Graces to help us stayed married and in love! Oh, and we remember to laugh (Aaron's good at reminding me to do that). :) Yep...I have a wonderful life!

We have a beautiful angel (Liz) who watches over us, too. I think she guides me and Aaron along our married life. She helps God watch over us and she does a wonderful job. Yep...I have a wonderful life!

We continue to pray very hard that Aaron will get good news about his back on Weds (Nov 26th). He meets with the back specialist this day and we pray that the doc will say that this can be fixed with PT rather than surgery. Until then, we remind ourselves that Life is Wonderful and we serve an even more wonderful God who will not forsake us!

Take care my dear loved ones! Remember to hug, kiss, and just LOVE your spouses or significant others! Remember...disagreements are OK (and expected), but fighting solves nothing. Never go to bed angry. And always, always, always...Trust in the LORD...for HE is what makes life WONDERFUL!

Thankful for my Wonderful Life,

Amanda

Mass in Memory of Liz

First things, first...please read the post below this one if you have not done so. :) It's very rare that I post even once a week, let alone more often than that...LOL! But I couldn't pass up writing about today's beautiful Liz Wink. :)

Well, during the month of November, there were to be 2 Masses held for Liz. The first one was on November 3rd and was a beautiful candle lighting ceremony at my church for all departed souls and they read each name one-by-one. The 2nd Mass was held at my chcurch today at 10. Some very good forever friends of ours (Janie and Ryan) joined us in celebration of Liz's life as well. Friday (Nov 14th) was Liz's 2 yr anniversary in Eternal Heaven. I have made a promise to her that as each Nov 14th rolls around, there will be a Mass said in her memory. Today was the Mass. It was a most beautiful celebration of her life and the sermon itself today, was that of a beautiful Liz Wink, which I wanted to share.

Today's sermon seemed as though it was coming straight down from heaven by Liz and God. The priest spoke of marriage. He mentioned that trust, friendship, loyalty are among the many important things in a marriage. He also spoke about how important it is to give to others and that it's not the monetary things in life, but rather your relationship with God that is the great reward for heaven. What kind of friend, wife, husband, stranger, etc one is on this earth, and that we do not know when our last breath will be on earth, so we must always be prepared and to keep God first. He said this and so much more and I just kept thinking yet again "does he know he's still talking about that young girl in the pink and black frame on the altar"? For those of you that do not go to our church, there is a picture of Liz (and pictures of other deceased loved ones) near the Altar of the church during the month of November. Liz loved everyone and everything. She was/is the wife, friend, daughter, good samaritan, etc that the priest was speaking about in his sermon today. Liz was letting us all know that she loves Nick so much and she loves her family and all her friends so dearly but in the end, God knew HIS plan for her and that plan is watching over all of us from Heaven. She wants everyone to know that she misses you...but to please keep your faith and hope strong because soon the suffering will be over and the reward will be great and Eternal. Today's Mass (said in memory of Liz) was absolutely meant to be. It was a message of LOVE from LIZ and God from Heaven. Liz is alive and well and she and God made that message very clear in today's Mass. And when they mentioned her name in prayer, the priest took an extra moment to pray for comfort, faith and hope for all her friends and family that are still here on earth waiting to see her again. I had never heard the priest say that "extra" little prayer before. This blog does not do justice to the miracle of winks and love that went on at Mass to remind us of the promise of Christ...that those who are faithful to HIM will get to see the rewards of Eternal Life. And ofcourse the message of LOVE from Liz. It was all beautiful. I can't wait to see Liz in heaven and meet Jesus face-to-face.

Here is a picture of a Liz Wink I rec'd in March, 2007. It was taken from our back yard and a constant reminder that Liz watches over us!

I must get back to some studying. I have a Bio exam tonight and I need to be prepared for it. So, another weekend closes here and the love of Liz and God from heaven is still strong. Rest peacefully sweet, sweet Angel! You are working so hard for our Lord in heaven and I can't wait to join you! Until then, we pray for your family and friends that they will take great comfort and peace knowing that you will always watch over them!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week! I'm back to studying!

Love,

Amanda

Remembering Liz

Today, it has been exactly 2 years since Liz Hacker went to be with Jesus in heaven. To honor her memory on this very day, I wanted to post my very first ever "Liz Wink" from Liz. See, for those of you who do not know Liz, her family termed her "pink messages from heaven" as Liz Winks. As a friend of Liz, I have rec'd many of these "Liz Winks". Right now, I'm going to share the very first Liz Wink I ever rec'd. This litereally happened within the first hour of Liz passing away. Here it is:

My story starts here:
"So, I recall the evening of the 14th of November, 2006 very well. It is one day and night that will be in my mind for an eternity. My friend, Tommy (who is the Catholic Campus Director here in Greeley CO) had put in a request to have Mass said for Liz on the 14th (keep in mind, he put the "14th" down for Liz long before we knew that would be the day that Jesus would call her up). Keep in mind that in Colorado, we are an hour behind you guys (so, when I write this...I will be talking about Colrado time zone...and this "wink" is very time specific). Anyway-Mass was being said for Liz at 5PM (6 your time). I had written in to the caring bridge site at precisley 4:56 (my time...5:56 your time) stating that a Mass was being said for Liz as I typed the message. Right after that, I knelt down to say a Rosary for Liz. During the Rosary, I had an overwhelming sense come into my body, and thought one of two things; either the Rosary was answering my prayers or the worst had happened. Well, after I got done with the Rosary I had to head into town for a Church event. I checked the website one last time hoping to see an update. I will never forget, for at that point (5:24 my time, 6:24 your time), I saw that Liz had gone to be with Jesus in Heaven. I am not sure of the exact timing of Liz's passing from earth, but Li'z brother-in-law posted the news was the same time that Mass was being said for Liz. I just sat on my bed, the room spinning wondering how this could have happened (and at the same time, seeing the miracle in that as the same time Liz's brother-in-law posted about Liz, I was saying a Rosary for her, and a Mass was being said for her that had been requested almost a week prior). The whole thought gave me chills.

Well, I couldn't sit anymore and I had to be off to the Church for a weekly event, though I thought what a perfect place to be at this time. Anyway-here is the actual"wink" I got from Liz. About 5 mins after reading about Liz's passing (which was about 1/2 hour after her brother-in-law posted it on the site), I got into my car to drive into town. I turned the radio to K-Love (a Christian radio station). I don't listen to it often, but I didn't want to listen to anything else at that moment. When i turned to the station, I noticed there was nothing on. I thought "great, just when I need the radio station the most, it isn't working." Just then, a song came on. It is called "Wish You Were Here" by Mark Harris. This was truly Liz's wink to me. I don't know at that point, how long she'd been in heaven (remember, this was about half an hour after the post to the caring bridge site), but I will never forget that drive to Greeley as long as I live. The song was truly Liz "winking" to me. It was just a little too much of a miracle to hear those words to that song only 20 mins after hearing of Liz's passing. I knew Liz only a little bit (knew her through others at UND...I was a couple years older than she was), but she obviously remembered me, because that song was not being sung by Mark Harris that night, but rather by Liz, as she was sitting in the passenger seat in my Explorer."

Here is a video of the song:

And, if you want to hear the song...here's a youtube version...it's just beautiful:

Here is a picture of Liz. Her wedding pic...taken just 3 months before she passed away.

Liz, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of you and pray for your family. Thank you for ALL of the Liz Winks you send my way...they truly keep me going. We always look forward to the next Wink you and God have prepared for us and we wait with joyful hope until we see you again and meet Jesus face-to-face! We love you Liz!
Amanda

Fall/Halloween 2008

WOW...it's been over, what 3 weeks since I've written???YIKES! Every morning I think to myself "Ok, when I get home from work, I'm going to post on my blog"...clearly I'm not good at convincing myself to do things...haha. :) Between school (which is going great) and my health (which, I wish was going as well as school...but, I'll talk about that in a few)...it's been crazy around here. But first, some really fun halloween updates! :)

Aaron's nieces came over for Halloween. They were Glenda and Dorothy (from the Wizard of Oz). They were just SO cute! Obviously since we don't have any kids, we have to show off our nieces (and since mine live 800 miles away, we mostly show off Aaron's nieces)! :) But here's some pics from BOTH sets of nieces this year!

Taeya and Nevaeh (Taeya is Glenda and Nev is Dorothy).

Opening Presents from Uncle Aaron and Aunt Amanda

Both of the girls with their presents. Is it obvious we were watching a movie before they came over?? Can anyone guess what movie is playing in the background?! :)

My niececs (who live in ND) went as a Hawaiian girl (Bella) and as a Bee (Sienna).

Life at our house has been hectic and especially in this past week. We found out that Aaron has Degenerative Disc Disease and will probably have to have surgery. The worst part about this is that the Dr's nurse told him this stuff over the phone! Can you believe that?! We can't. And, Aaron asked to talk to the doc and the nurse told Aaron that the doc didn't have time to talk. I was SO mad. So, I called up the medical facility and told them that we will never be Dr-ing there ever again. Aaron is going to speak with a back specialist within the next few weeks to see what his options are. Also, I found out that I have to have an endoscope done. I've had an ulcer for the last 2 years and my Rheumatologist wants to have it looked at by a GI doc to make sure the acid isn't eroding away my esaphagus. Ulcers are common for people with Sjogren's Syndrome becuase I lack the moisture in my body to balance the acidic/gastric juices in the stomach. So, between Aaron's news and my news, I'd say we had a very busy week!! ;)

School is going great. Even with everything going on, I'm still maintaining A's, which is SO nice! One step closer to applying for grad school and I'm so excited!

I don't think there's too much more to update on. We are approaching the 2 year anniversary of my friend, Liz. She's an amazing Angel in heaven. I'll be sharing some "Liz Winks" here very soon...so, stay tuned! Until then...take care and God Bless!
Amanda :)