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!

Sickies, Small Group, Travels, and Independence

Well, I was so excited about going to do something I have been really wanting to do and posting my first video, but...Travis and I have been really sick so you will have to wait a bit more.

Travis started out having a nasty bad cough and missed quite a bit of work over a two week period. Over that time I felt fine and thought I was in the clear...boy was I wrong!!

I started feeling horrible on Thursday night with a bad sore throat, ear ache, congestion, no voice...the list goes on. We just got back from the doctors a little bit ago. It turns out that I have a sinus infection, an ear infection, and laryngitis. They started me on antibiotics and said that I should start feeling better within 48 hours. My silver lining to all this is that at least being sick has taken my mind off of the pain in my ankle a bit!!

On a lighter note, we had a great time chatting with some of our small group from Virginia via the webcam. It is so much nicer to actually see the people you are talking to. It was great to catch up with everyone and now that it is set up we will be able to do it whever we want. It was nice because Monday was a government holiday so Travis was home to talk to our small group when they normally meet back home.

Travis will be leaving this weekend for 2 weeks. Please keep him in your prayers as he is traveling. And since he will be gone, I will be home and therefore I probably won't have much to post about, but I will see what I can do.

One last thing...I am working on my application to the government here to get hand controlls installed on our SUV so I can drive without pain. They only meet once a month to decide on these applications so I am trying to get mine out in time. I am so excited about the possibility of getting my independence back. I'm not sure many people can understand what it is like to have to depend on someone for EVERYTHING. I can't get to my doctors' appointments by myself, I can't go to the store when I want to, I can't get our APO mail/packages and so on. Hand controls will allow me to start having a life again and feeling like an actual person.

Well, that is all for now. For the people I talk to regularly especially my mom...I'll call you when I get a voice back, but I hope this update is enough to let you know what is going on with us.

Take care everyone!!

The Welcome Sign

We finally went out to the Alice Springs sign to take pictures. It is a landmark in the area and has a big parking area right by it so people can drive up and take pictures. We took the pictures right as the sun was setting on a somewhat cloudy Monday night. It was really fun watching Travis set up the camera and then run to get in the pictures!

It is so pretty in Alice Springs. I am so grateful to be here and I can't believe it has already been 5 months! We are hopefully going to start doing some of the fun things in town and then in a couple of months we will hopefully start traveling around in Australia. If the rest of the country is as pretty as Alice, I can't wait!

I hope you enjoy the pictures!! I will hopefully be adding another update this week and I think I will try posting my first video on my blog. Until then...

Our Church Home in Alice

We have been going to a church here regularly for a couple of months and we have decided that it is the church for us. It is called Christian Community Centre and the website is: www.christiancommunitycentre.com. I took a picture this past Sunday, but there are pictures on the website as well.


This past Sunday there was a guest preacher. He was so amazingly enthusiastic. His faith is stronger than anyone I think I have ever seen. His brother has had cancer for about the last 18 months, and it doesn't even faze him because he truly believes that his brother will be healed by God if he prays for it. His brother's situation has had an amazing impact on the people around them and has brought many closer to God. I was so touched by his words and passion for the Lord.

The Christian Community Centre's service is very different than what I was used to at the Fairfax Church of Christ. The service is so upbeat and utilizes a full band and many singers on the worship team. At first I missed the quiet prayer time that I was used to at FXCC, but the more we go the more I am glad for the upbeat service that makes my soul so joyful. I guess it just goes to show you that there are many ways to praise God and to worship him. It is not the differences in the methods that matter, but just that you are always worshiping Him. I am thankful for the opportunity to learn a new way to do that.

Also this past Sunday we took a couple of people that were visiting from the States. Keith has been coming to church with us for the past month, Shane was here for a couple of weeks, and Erica came with us this past Sunday and will be in town for church next Sunday as well. Here is a picture of Erica, Travis, me, and Keith at our house last Sunday.

5 Months Later...Our Household Effects Arrive!!

Probably my favorite thing about our HHE (household effects) arriving is our bed. We now have our beautiful queen sleigh bed from home with a memory foam mattress.


Here I am enjoying my favorite thing.


Boxes, boxes, and more boxes!!!

Here is the GIGANTIC TV box....this would be Trav's favorite thing...I'll post some pictures soon of our living room back together.


After we got everything out of the boxes, we put them all here in our laundry room and the moving company came and picked them up for us.



The only casualty of the move was my desk. I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture, but something heavy must have been stacked on top of the desk causing the legs to bow out. It can no longer hold anything heavy and still stay in one piece.


We are well on our way to having our house looking good. On Thursday our Survival Kit will be picked up and that will help alot. Also, we are having a few excess pieces of furniture picked up and I will be trying to get another desk to replace my broken one. By the way...the survival kit included linens, dishes, and everything you need to live on. You get to use it until your own things arrive. Until next time!!

Christmas 2007

After feeling sort of sad about Christmas in Australia, Travis went and bought a little Christmas village that is on the mantle. Then the Christmas cards started coming...it definitely helped!!


Then we added some presents...


The two bags on the ground on either side of the fireplace were our make shift stockings because our stockings hadn't arrived yet. Travis and I went to Kmart (the only big store in town) and bought fun little things for each other. The big stocking in the middle was from our friends in Australia, Mark and Pauline. The day before Christmas we received our stockings and the advent calendar also shown in the picture. It was our little Christmas miracle and helped to make it more special for us!!


Travis got the Santa Claus stocking.


I got the snowman stocking. Travis got me the little stuffed monkey in the stocking.



Christmas turned out to be okay after all. It was nice spending time with our friends here. I think everyone that is away from their family for the holidays gets a little blue. We were lucky enough to find people to be our family here.