I'm thankful for: Matt

I have an absolutely wonderful husband.



I love watching Matt coach... he's such a good teacher (something that I'm not so good at) and very patient with his boys. If they don't get a technique the first time he explains it, he can always think of a new creative way to explain the same thing. I appreciate that he is a kind and gentle (yet firm & manly!) coach. He doesn't fly off the handle, he is always consistent.




I made this list of "awesome husband qualities" when I was 17 years old... I framed it and gave it to Matt on our wedding night and now it hangs in our bedroom. The qualities I listed on August 29th 1997 were:

friend
man of God
someone I admire
brave
fun
funny
can make me laugh
CREATIVE
romantic
loving
caring
smart
handsome
family man!
responsible
trustworthy
initiator
athletic
good listener
good discusser


I had no idea that all of this would come wrapped up in the package that is Mr. Matthew Danger Troxell. However, I am extremely thankful that the Lord knew just who & what I needed!




Tonight, I am thankful for his handiness! I recently became fed up with the way our house looked so I decided to paint... which has since led to other things and tonight Matt is replacing our sink/vanity in the bathroom. I'm one blessed girl! :)




I'm thankful for my "Big Bad Wolf!"

THIRTY DAYS OF THANKFULNESS

THIRTY DAYS OF THANKFULNESS... well make that 26 days... I'm going to (try) to post a blog of "thankfulness" everyday for the rest of the month. Wish me luck! :)

Some things that are on my mind......

Woodleaf 2009
WyldLife for 09-10
Young Life for 09-10
Leaders (current and new)
How happy I am that I got new glasses/sunglasses (prescription for both!!)
Donors
Money
Our house
Kids?!
High Schoolers hearts
Jonesing for some Yogizmo (frozen yogurt!!)
Fund raisers for camp
Committee
Dishes
Laundry
Mabel-vet
Car- oil changed/maintenance required light
Carol
Sleep
Yoga
Vacation
Family
Friends
Living so far away...
Balance

PRAYER.

Eye of the Danger

Matt got some saw dust in his eye on Saturday around 4pm while we were building the new SLV snack shed. He tried irrigating it for a while but hours later it was still bright red and watering. So, we went for a Saturday night "date" to the ER. They put some special drops in his eye that helped the PA to see with UV light any foreign bodies... but no such luck. They didn't find anything. *sigh*
So, after 48+ hours of pain we went for an Ophthalmologist consult this morning (Monday) where the talented Dr. Cheng found a piece of wood embedded in Matt's eyelid. The kind Doctor removed it and Matt instantly felt better! Tonight his eye is still red but not watering and feels much much better. Thankfully no real damage was done and all he has to do is put antibiotic eye drops in every 2 hours. We have a followup appointment on Thursday to make sure no infection has set in.

Here are some pictures of our "date" at the ER on Saturday night....


UV light test...

wife

after the special drops

Eye of the Danger

Matt waiting

SLV snack shed

long time no see......

Sorry it's been so long! Our computer crashed for a little bit and well... I've just had other things to do!

Here are a few picture to show you what we've been up to since I last posted...

Pictures from the top down:

1. Snow at Young Life's Woodleaf camp over the WyldLife weekend that we served at as "Head Leaders"
2. New 29th birthday haircut
3. Young Life Club shenanigans
4. Me taking a "stab" at knife throwing
5. Young Life's Winter weekend (Young Life Camp)
6. Matt got a new work truck! (Ford F250 Diesel)
7. Mabel at the dog beach in Santa Cruz
8. Amazing clouds over the pool deck during Swim practice
9. Candles from the lent service at our church
10. Photo of the Pacific Ocean while on a walk with Trinity
11. Puppy Sleepover! (Mabel had a friend, Mr. Darcy, stay over one night!)
12. Walks with Mabel
13. Friends of ours trying to raft down the creek behind our house... silly boys!
14. R.A.W. ("Real Authentic Worship")
15. My chili entry from the Chili Cook off at our Church!
16. Carlyn trying to pack up Mabel and take her to Italy with her!

Blog Giveaway!!!

My friend Amy is having a giveaway on her blog... check it out!

Baby Car-Car

This picture was when we went to sing Christmas carols as a "family" lead by our friend Wendy Estorga at Finn's Coffee in Santa Cruz. (Matt's company, KI Custom Construction Inc. built Finn's!)

I can't believe over the last 7 months I've never blogged about this wonderful girl..........

So, we had a former Young Life kid (and friend) Carlyn Kay Whitaker, living with us from May - Jan. 16th. She was an amazing "housemate" and we enjoyed her company so much this year! Carlyn (or baby Car-Car as we often call her) is amazing woman! She is currently off adventuring in "Italia" at the Apicius International School of Hospitality in Florence, Italy. We're praying that she has a wonderful time abroad and learns lots at culinary school!

WE MISS YOU MANY TINES BABY CAR-CAR!!!!!!!!!!!! And yes, to everyone reading, I meant to write tines and not times! ;)

is Facebook contact work?

The Young Life website says the following about "contact work"...

Contact work is a simple principle modeled by Christ and "rediscovered" more than 60 years ago when a handful of men and women who were developing Young Life's methods began showing up at games, practices and local hangouts so they could get to know kids. Contact work is about building relationships and earning the trust and friendship of teenagers.

Contact work is also lifestyle, not just a technique. "You are there to care for people for the sake of Christ," says one veteran Young Life staff person. "These relationships are not accidental or coincidental. They are ordained by God."

Jesus spent His earthly ministry looking for and connecting with the lost and hurting. His life set the standard for how we should reach teenagers through the ministry of Young Life — up close and personal. Every leader will have their own techniques for doing contact work based on who they are and what their kids enjoy.


So my question is: if I just spent about a hour on facebook "talking" to 3 different kids, is that contact work?! :)

a new day...

January 20th 2009

Looking forward to seeing what will happen over the next 4 years.

9 stress factors

Can you guess which of these stress factors I wasn't closely involved in this year??

• not enough sleep
• trying to do too much
• serious illness or surgery
• new job
• divorce
• moving house
• excessive caffeine
• death of partner, relative, or close friend
• marriage

one year.

Once upon a time, (actually it was one year ago today) we had a HUGE Winter storm here in Santa Cruz. It just so happened that it was 6 days after we purchased our little cabin in the woods. During the storm a tree fell, not just any tree but a 200-300 foot Douglas Fir with a 4 1/2 foot base... Thankfully, very thankfully, it fell the other direction-- away from our little cabin in the woods and onto some power lines... we went 58 hours with out power (and showers!) but eventually the tree came down safely and was well with the world at 930 Lockhart again! :)

The End
p.s. the stump and logs are still in our yard-- anyone want them?!

Cambo

While I was in West Virginia for Thanksgiving/my Grandma's 90th birthday I was able to see CAMBERLY ELISABETH PEARSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Christmas" in Florida

I was able to spend some time with my awesome family while I was in town for Barbara's shower... here are some pictures from our time together.


I took Ella to Build-a-Bear for Christmas!


Ella & Aunt Heather with the Build-a-Bear dog that Ella named: "Princess Sparkles"


Cute siblings!


Isaac giving me a high five! :)


Grandma & Ella making a Gingerbread House!


Ella being silly with the GB House


Grandma & Ella with their completed Gingerbread house!


The final product! YUM!

Barb's Shower!

I was able to go home to Florida for one of my best friend's baby shower in mid December. I was so happy that I could be there to celebrate the soon to be life of "baby boy Drahl!" (Name to be reveled at birth!) Enjoy the pictures of the event!


All kinds of yummy food!


Me with my Florida besties: Barb & Krista


Barb with some of her hostesses!


Barbara had LOTS of presents to open!


The soon to be Mommy, Barbara & the soon to be Grandma, Jana!

A New Year... a new "no"

Here's the challenge & the goal:

No Coke (or soda) for one year... wish me luck! :)