Feeding the Wallabies

This past Thursday, the 20th of March, Travis and I went to do something I have been wanting to do since we arrived in Alice Springs...we fed the wallabies!! Wallabies are kind of like really small kangaroos. There is a hotel here in town called Aurora Heavitree Gap that has a wall of rock from the mountains that comes right up to it. Every evening around dusk, they come down from the mountain rock wall to feed. We bought food that is specifically designed for them and we were able to feed them by hand and pet them. As many of you know, I am not particularly comfortable around animals, but I have to say...this was one of the best experiences of my life!! We plan to go many more times before we have to leave here, but I am sure this is something I will remember for the rest of my life. Enjoy the pictures and videos of our expereince!! Check out this site for more great information on the Rock Wallabies: www.wwf.org.au/publications/black-footed_rock_wallaby.pdf

Check Out the New Clock!

Hey everyone! After I have been asked in person and via e-mail a bunch of times about the time difference, I thought I would find a solution. On the top right hand side of my blog, I now have the current time for us in Alice Springs. Now there will be no questions and I will be getting lots of phone calls from people I imagine!! =). Hope you all enjoy!!!!

Check out the website if you are interested in adding your own clock:

www.timeanddate.com/clocks/free.html?n=72

Prayers and Advice Needed

I only have one area in my life right now that I am confused about and I don't know how to procede. I feel that it is time to share this with everyone because it is nothing that I need to be ashamed about and the support might make this a lot easier..so here goes.

As many of you know, I have CRPS and am on a lot of medication because of it. Since the pain started in January 2006, my priorities in life have changed dramatically. I used to want to be this powerful careerwoman that didn't have to rely on anyone. Now I am not really concerned with work(except for finding some that I can do) and I am very focused on wanting to have a family. Travis and I have been married for 6 years and for the first 4 we weren't really ready for kids. I wish so much that we had been, because now it is going to be really difficult for us. Our options include:

1. Go off of all of my medication so we can get pregnant naturally. Allthough I would love to have my own children, I am not sure if I could stand the pain of my disorder without the medication I am on. It is hard for me to deal with the pain sometimes now even with all the medication.

2. Find someone willing to be a surrogate so that we could still have our own children, but I would not have to go through the tortue of not having my medicine. I can't imagine how hard it would be to find someone willing to be a surrogate though.

3. There is a chance, a small chance, that if I have another surgery to implant a spinal cord stimulator, that that might relieve the pain enough to allow me to get off my other medication. I can have the unit temporarily attached in a week trial to see what it would be like, but there is no guarantee that it would work enough to get me off my meds or that it would contiue to work over time. I would also have to have surgeries every few years to replace the batteries of the unit.

4. Our final choice is adoption. Travis and I are both open to adoption. I think it is just hard to admit that you will never get to have the experience of being pregnant and having your own child.

Travis and I both think that we will probably end up adopting, but there are a lot of mixed feelings for all of the options we have come up with. I just thought I would open up and share all of this with my friends and family to see if anyone has any advice, or at least to get some much needed prayers. Right now Travis and I have talked about adopting when we get back to the U.S., but obviously nothing is firmed up yet.

Thank you to all of my family and friends for being so great that I feel good about sharing this information. I love you all!

My Real Passion in Life

I have been wanting to update my blog in the last couple of weeks, but I didn't really know what to write about. I had thought about taking pictures of some of the organizational products that I got with Christmas gift certificates and show how I use them because organizing is one of my passions in life. After thinking about that for awhile, I realized that my mind has been preoccupied with my real passion in life...my wonderful husband and best friend Travis.

He has been gone for the last couple of weeks and I miss him so much. Every time I talk to him I can't wait to tell him about what is going on and hear all about his travels and how things are going for him. I miss his hugs and kisses and his cute crinkle eyes. I miss our hand signals and funny times that make us realize that we are "the same person." I miss that when we go out people always ask us if we are newlyweds because our love is so strong that it even comes across to complete strangers. I love how we make each other laugh and our knicknames for each other. I love his understanding when I am having a bad pain day and how he never takes it out on me or holds a grudge. I love how he tries so much to help me with things, but also knows when he needs to let me do things for myself. I love that God brought us together and Travis brought me to God. I think about how hard our lives have been and all the stresses on us over the last couple of years. When you go through something like this...it either breaks you apart or entwines you forever. I am so glad we fall into the latter category and that we have been able to have our marriage flourish over the last 6 years.

Travis-I love you with all my heart bunches and bunches and I can't wait for you to be home on Sunday!! May God bless you on your travels home!