A quick review of the last year! 2009

Can you believe I haven't blogged in almost a year?!?!? Ha! I can TOTALLY believe it because I am one lazy person. Or busy...lazy would be my first pick though. Although I have been really busy this last year I think things have settled down enough to cause me to think my life is now boring. lol


I started thinking that I didn't want to forget all the little fun things that happen in our marriage and that I need to write things down. Well that's certainly what I started the blog for in the beginning-just to write.

Let's recap the past year...and get all caught up. I won't be able to recall little things but there have certainly been HUGE things happen in our life this past year. 2009 has been the busiest year of both of our lives and it was amazing and nothing less than wonderful. God has been so good and faithful.

Since last year on Jan 29, 2009:

I visited Cali in March

I got my Aggie Ring in April!!!!

My nephew was born April 13

My sister graduated in May from ORU

Todd moved from Waco and purchased a practice in July in Sherman

I graduated A&M with my HR Development degree

We got married August 29, 2009

We went to Belize on our honeymoon

Went to Hawaii in Septemeber with his new staff

I got a new job in Sherman

My sister got engaged to Daniel and they married 3 months later in December!

Let's get to it!

I went to California for Spring break in March. I went to see one of my wonderful best friends, Heather Hooks, and we drove to San Francisco to visit and shop! We also celebrated my favorite holiday...St. Patricks day. It was a wonderful vacation!

I LOVED being in the city and walking everywhere. We went to see Wicked while in San Fran (Thanks to my wonderful husband, (fiancee at the time) )and it was absolutly amazing! It was a ton of fun. The weather of course wasn't all that great but we all know that about San Fran!

One other thing that was hilarious- if I opened my mouth to talk to anyone their first question was "Where are you from?"- Me and Heather proudly represented Texas and made all of us look very intelligent!

Pretty Church with amazing sky!

Golden Gate Bridge behind me (through the fog)

I finally got my Aggie Ring in April! It was a great day, except for the horrendus rain storm. It was messy and really hard to coordinate with everyone and the weather. We finally made it to the Association and got it all done!

In Aggieland it's tradition to dunk your ring in a pitcher of beer. Dunking is defined as dropping your Aggie ring in the bottom and you can't have it back till you drink the whole pitcher by yourself. It has turned into a race and normally friends try and get their rings together so they can "dunk" together. The person that drinks theirs the fastest is the "winner"!
Note: I dunked my ring in a mug full of welch's sparkling grape juice. I felt a little bloated! It was a blast and a memory I will cherish forever!

Todd putting my ring on me

Next on the list is Connor Wayne Maiville's entry into the world. He was born on April 13, 2009. A couple of days later his daddy left for Afghanistan. We are anxioulsy awaiting his return and the move back of his family in February: Ashley (wife), Hailey and Connor (kids). We love yall and miss you so much!

Congrats to Allison for graduating with her bachelor's in Histroy from ORU. She worked hard and we are all so proud of her!!! She is an amazing sister and best friend!

As soon as we knew that God was leading Todd out of Waco, we started looking into the option of buying a practice. We didn't know what God had in store and we were pretty open to moving anywhere. We were excited but knew it would be a long transition process for us. This has been one of the biggest challenges in trusting God and waiting on Him to tell us where He wants us. We prayed for a couple of months and in His timing we were told where to go. He moved us to Sherman and we are liking it so far!

Todd in front of his new office sign

I FINALLY GRADUATED WITH MY BACHELOR'S FROM MY DREAM SCHOOL! Yes, after 7 years of school-I graduated. I spent the last 7 years in school and working my way through with two jobs, most of the time. It was tough, I was tired, but I did it! Human Resource Development was my major with a Business minor.

Pics with friends in my class! WHOOP!

Two weeks after graduation I said "I Do" to the love of my life. He is my second strength after God and without him I feel like my life would be incomplete. He made the "best day of my life" to date the most amazing and a dream come true. I love you Todd Michael Collins!

You can see more pics by Snaptacular Photos are on their blog listed below:

http://www.snaptacularphotos.com/blog/?p=291

Here are snap shots from others:

So now that were married (almost 5 months already) our life is moving right along! We enjoy our time with each other and hate when the other has to leave for any reason. We have laughed more than cried and for that I am thankful.

I can say that God has blessed me with an amazing husband who does more than he is ever asked to do and loves me as Christ loves us. What more could a girl ask for?

We are in the process of joining a church here in Sherman named Legacy Bible. The pastor and congregation are wonderful even though we are still getting to know everyone. Most of our time is tied up with Todd's office. We are making changes that we feel are for the better and the long standing future of the practice. We get the chance to build a team that we pray will stick with us as we pull together Todd's vision of his practice. It's will always be a work in progress but we have a great team with great ideas! We give all of the glory to God for all good and bad in our life. Without His guidance we would be so lost!

More to come about the honeymoon, hawaii, and my sister's wedding!

One Year

As I sit at work (yes, I know) and think about a year ago today and what I was doing I get so excited. Around this time, I was getting ready to leave for Dallas and go meet a guy that I had been talking to over the internet and phone. Yes, I know...crazy. The peace over me was incredible and I was not in the least bit nervous. Well, of course that guy turned out to be my fiance about a month and a week or so later, and I will mary him on August 29, 2009. Let me tell you about him......

Love. He does this without question, or it seems this way. I have never been so loved in my life. I have never felt so beautiful and captivating. I am completly honest when I say this.

Patient. Wow, does he have these. I am sure he would have liked to kill me at points, probably at some point every day, But he kindly, lovingly, and happily, lets me be me and helps me through it the way God shows him. He tells me when I am wrong, lets me be mad, but not for long. Makes me talk about things, that I don't want to in order for us to get past our arguments. How amazing.

Incredible. Everything about him is incredible. Everything. Even things I don't like....still incredible. I have come to love the things I used to not like. Those very things, make him who he his. His personality, grace, love, mercy, smile, gentleness...all incredible.

Does this sound like I am describing how God is? Yes, it does to me. That is what a marriage relationship is suppose to be like (engagement too). Marriage is the closest symbol that God created for us to be able to even feel about .01% of the way God loves us. Marriage is set up by God, between a man and woman to be a picture of how God cares for us. We as a couple should strive for this perfect love, everyday. Just as God does without even thinking about it. You think, wow. I feel loved but God's love runs deeper than any earthly love you can feel. That is amazing, incredible, and exctiting.

I am so proud and so blessed to say that I have a Godly, Christian, amazing, man to spend the rest of my life with. To laugh with, cry with, to honor, love, respect, and show that he has what it takes to be my lover and father of my children. I get this. I have this. I am so thankful. I could not imagine my life without him and I get sick at the thought of losing him. I smile at the thought of him alone or him being goofy, him being mad at me (bc its so cute), him being a boy and doing boy things, him being a dentist and getting to do what he loves. It all makes me smile. It makes me thankful to my heavenly Father for allowing me to experience this and teaching me how to be just as great as he is. I never understood what people meant when they said "he/she makes me a better person" but I get it. I feel it. He does this for me.

Todd Michael, you are my everything.

Nothing clever to say...

I don't think I really ever have anything clever to say. But, I have some things on my heart nontheless. <------is that one word?

So school is about over for me, for this semester. I have a 2 chapter test, a presentation, and some spanish to translate. Basically, I am home free! Whoop! What a semester. 18 hours. 2 jobs. Church and organizational meetings every night of the week. Wow. I am so TIRED! Next semester will be better for sure. I will be taking Scuba 1 and 2, a water aerobics class, a research class, and 2 classes on the internet from a different college. I am looking forward to it being somewhat of a breeze....yay!

So Christmas is around the corner.......how many of us are really celebrating Christmas though? How many people are rushing around just buying this or that and planning to eat at one persons house just to go to another? How many of us stop and truly tell Jesus happy birthday and tell Him thank you for what He did for us?

I pose the question: What is Christmas to you?

Christmas is here because we celebrate Christ and Him being born. Our Saviour was born on this day....or a day around December 25. I don't want Christmas to be about what presents I want or what holiday parties I have to attend. I want people to realize that it's about Christ. We don't deserve presents because Christ was born. I know that our society has fallen into the rush around madness, and Christmas season becomes just making it through the Holidays alive. I challenge you to stop that way of thinking and lifestyle for a month, or forever. Really teach yourself about why we celebrate Christmas. Teach others too. Think about the Lord and His goodness (we should do this everyday) and thank Him for His love and never ending grace. Christmas is the season for giving, for sharing, and we should do this with a greatful heart. I can't wait until I get to teach my kids about what Christmas is really about. Me and Todd have talked and our kids won't get to expect gifts just because its Christmas. They are going to get to learn about giving of themselves to others. I am not saying they won't recieve anything but there is a big difference between expectant kids and appreciative kids. I pray that we teach ours right and show them the love of Christ and how to spread that around without a bad attitude!

-Amy

the simple things in life or not so simple

So, I love simple things. Yes, cookies, COLD water, smiles, hugs, naps, rainbows, butteflies, shoes, a clear face, and people opening the door for me. Included in the small things are amazing people placed in my life. If you are reading this then that means you! But most of all today I am so excited about one of my Christmas presents. Todd happens to have an amazing office manager, Traci, who found me an orange peeler. Yep, you read it correctly. I have been looking for one of these for forever, literally. They are hard to find. According to a phone call I received yesterday or the day before she has located me one and I am getting it for Christmas! ha ha! I am SO excited about this little addition to my fruit fetish! Along with this amazing invention, we recieved a few engagement pictures through our photogs blog. They are turning out amazing and of course my sweetheart is so cute!

Look at them here: http://www.snaptacularphotos.com/blog/?p=231

On another note.....

I have a question for you. I want to know if what you are living for is worth dying for? Read that s l o w l y. So I guess you have to answer the question, what are you living for? Better yet, WHO are you living for? If you are living for yourself and have bought into the notion of "its all about you" or "just make yourself happy".....then your answer is you are living for yourself. So are you willing to die for the things that you find SO important? Jesus dies for you. Could you die for what you are living for? I can tell you right now, I would say no. I would not choose to die for the things I spend most of my time on. School, internet, facebook, myspace, work....etc. SO that should tell me that I need to spend A LOT more time with my Father, my Savior, my comfort, my friend. He is my beloved and I am His. I would die for Him, to know Him more, to show his love more, to stand for what I believe. I want to be able to say...yes I will die for what I am living for because what I am living for is for Christ, not me, not you, not anything other than Christ. There is another part to this thought process. How do you get to the point where you are able to say you will die for what you are living for? First, you must die to yourself. Die to society's dumb crap that you are believing when you think all that matters is your happiness. That's not true. You weren't created for your own pleasure. We are created in the image of Christ. WE ARE ROYALTY. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. God looks at you as a piece of Him and that is majestic. Surrender your plans to Christ and let Him guide you and lead you in the direction that He has set before you. Put your wants and plans aside. Die to your ways of thinking and let God change them. Die to your sinful ways and let God replace those thoughts and actions with love. His love. Through that love you can serve others. You are most like Christ when you serve others.

I am learning to die to myself, my selfish ways, my wants. This is a great journey. I have peace, I am gaining more joy. This is all God's work. I am His workmanship and so are you!

so much to think about...

Have you ever had one of those slap in the face moments? Like you have been wondering about things but didn't realize you were until the answer came to you? I had one of those moments recently. I was listening to a speaker in CBL (an organization that I am in at A&M) and He was telling his testimony of how he had graduated with a finance degree from A&M and was making really good money when he felt called to leave his nice "successful" job and go run a kids camp in the area. Of course being obedient, he obeyed God and was completely happy with the road God was leading him on. He made the statement that has had me thinking for a while now....he said "I only have roughly 60 years left on this earth, how will I spend that time?" "Will I make a difference?" He made the choice to leave that "successful" job in society's eyes to do something that may or may not be something that others would deem as worthy, or glamourous,but he was obeying God and through that obedience he was fulfilled with joy and overflowed with happiness. I have been thinking about that very question. "What will I do for the next 60 years?" I want to know what God wants me to do.....how will I spend it? What will I be doing? Will I be trying to please myself, husband, kids, society, family, (in all the wrong ways) or will I be focusing on God and what He has in store for me and for others through me? Through that focus I will be able to balance my relationship with my husband and family and still do what God has called me to do. I want to make a difference no matter if it is cleaning toilets for the rest of my life or being a stay at home mom, or managing Todd's practice. How will I allow myself to be used by God? Will I obey Him and do what He asks of me? I want to please God in ALL areas of my life. I want Him to take this empty vessell and fill it up an then pour it out like water. I pray that God cleans me, molds me, shapes me, and uses me for His glory and His glory only. Oh how I have dreams of having like 7 or so kids through natural and adoption processes. How I dream of bringing foster kids into a loving home and being able to love them and let them sleep in a safe place. How I dream of letting God pour His love into me just so I can pour it out on others. God use me! Take Me! This is my dream. I want to help the homeless and of course have every stray animal at my house. I want to be the one to tuck that precious baby in bed and let them know that they are okay in their new families arms. I want to visit the old people in the nursing home that get no visitors. I want to love. Do you hear me?..... I want to love. I want to love. I want to love. I want to love.

This is how I want to spend the next 60 years of my life.

Career? who cares...loving people in the name of Jesus is all I want to do. I long for the opportunities. Society tells you have to have money, or do things in a certain order and I am hear to say that it is all crap. God's plan isn't society's plan for you. Seek God. Seek Him first, and seek Him alone. He will be faithful to hear your cries and to answer them also. Don't be afraid of His answers they will bring you joy unspeakable. I know that Joy, I know Jesus, and I am coming to know His plan for my life.

Oh man, oh man!

First let me just say, I am not one to blog. I don't have time, or I type it all and somehow it gets deleted. What a bummer?! However, I feel compelled to blog. Why, you ask? Oh because I feel like my lessons learned, or words from our Father are not just for me. So join with me as you continue to read (if anyone is out there....lol) and help to guide me, lead me, and follow me along on my journey in life. Life includes love, happiness, tears, joy, and anything else that falls in my path. God will lead and I will follow. Therefore, I shall not wonder away from the path He has set in front of me. Who knows maybe my lovely fiance will feel compelled to write along beside me too. He is full of knowledge and I cherish it!
Thats all for now...

-AL