one year ago today!!!!!

(and for the record, i still fit in my dress!!!)

"Congratulations! Today is your day! You're off to great places! You're off and away! And will you succeed? Yes! You will indeed! 98 3/4% guaranteed!"

from Dr. Suess's "Oh, The Places You'll Go!"

so i am still in the "no work" phase of my life. that is for various reasons that i won't get into completely, but it leaves the snelson family with challenges to face. which of course makes me feel guilty and somewhat responsible for hardships that we are facing, but i won't get into that either.

on to the meat of this blog! this past week has been eventful to say the least. lots of things happening.

amber's 3rd birthday was yesterday. i can't believe she's 3! i can't believe it was 3 years ago....WOW!!!

we also had some other things going on the presented challenges of their own. i never thought that this would happen to me, or if it did i would be absolutley devastated. but it didn't turn out that way. yes, i have my disappointments, but i've walked away from this experience with more of a hope than anything else.

going back to the beginning of this entry, having no job leaves me at home all day. at first, this left me feeling somewhat lost and without any kind of purpose. i stayed in bed until noon or after and ended up laying around all day. but this past week i've been getting up early...before robert leaves for work - those of you who know me well, don't freak out! and in doing this, and a few other things new to me, i've found that i'm not as lost as i once thought.

in short, it seems that the lord is teaching me brand new things that i never thought i would learn. the difference? allowing yourself to be taught makes all the difference. if you keep yourself so closed up and not open to what you could be learning from the lord, you're not going to learn it. but as soon as you allow yourself to open up, "oh, the places you'll go!"

well, it's the end of an era. after 2 years, 2 moves, 2 TMI's....Fred has finally moved to that fishbowl in the sky. yesterday i cleaned his tank, like normal, b ut about 2 hours later, found him floating, lifeless, at the top of his tank. (i think i got the wrong kind of water conditioner.)

let's take a moment to pay tribute to him:

- he was a great fish, even though he killed all his tankmates
- he was a resilient fish: he lasted this long with me!
- he was a friendly fish: everytime i went to feed him, he came straight to the top of the tank for his food!
- he was a smart fish: refer to the previous line
- he was a pretty fish

well, so long, fred. i'll miss you.


Fred. (ca 2004 - 2006)

and the new name is MAX! cliched, yes. but appropriate, nonetheless. we were also thinking about hershey, wesley, chester, zach, and nestle.

enjoy!

alright. so we are going one more time! here is the newest addition to the snelson household. we haven't come up with a name for him yet. still working on that. any ideas??

oh yeah, i forgot. he's a dachshund/chihuahua mix. so he's small, but silly.

robert went to russia and paris for the past 2 weeks. he's back now (yay!) and here are pictures of him with my favorite place in the whole world! and yes, i'm am very jealous that he was there without me! :-)

i will bless the lord forever
i will trust him at all times
he will deliver me from all fear
he has set me feet upon the rock

and i will not be moved
i'll say of the lord

you are my shield, my strength,
my portion, deliverer, my shelter,
strong tower, my very present help in time of need

whom have i in heaven but you
there is none i desire beside you
you have made me glad
i'll say of the lord

you are my shield, my strength,
my portion, deliverer, my shelter,
strong tower, my very present help in time of need