A New Blog

I've blogged awhile on Myspace...but as a dear friend pointed out, she couldn't see my pics b/c she didn't have a log in, and she didn't want one. So fine. Just for you - You know who you are!! I PROMISE at some point pictures of the house will be here.

Its going to take me awhile to get this little corner of cyberspace up-to-date, so bear with me. I'll probably do some juxtaposition (like that word?) of time and events as I think of them. I really want to capture some memories I have of our family---before my feeble mind forgets them. I also have a tendency to jump around, so hang on for the ride. HA!

Ok...so where to start?

My name is Valerie, though most people call me Val. It drives my mom crazy, but doesn't bother me a bit. So feel free.

I'm a Christian. Saved by the grace of God and praise him, I'm growing. I haven't "arrived", and I have rough edges, but he loves me the way I am, warts and all. To sum up the current stage of my faith, you can listen to the song out by Sanctus Real - "Whatever your Doing" - the line- "Whatever your doing, inside of me, it feels like a chaos, but I believe, you're up to something bigger than me, larger than life, something Heavenly" that pretty much sums it up. Also Natalie Grant's song, "I will not be moved" is really speaking to me right now -"I will stumble, I will fall down, but I will not be moved"- God speaks to me through music a lot, and I love it! Other times I need a 2x4 to my head to hear Him, but I'm getting better - or trying to - there's a reason its a journey, right? More about 2x4s, my rough edges, and testimony later.

I'm married to a wonderful, sweet, amazing husband -I'll call him Darlin. We've been married 8 years. You'll understand why he's all those things as you get to know me. He puts up with my crazy side...with grace.

I'm momma the two most beautiful, intelligent girls on the planet, Princess and Punkin. You'll also hear WAAAY more about them than I'm sure you'll want. But thats ok, because this is MY blog, I'll blog if I want to. You'd blog about them to if they were yours.

I'm a biologist for the state, which is a challenging, intresting career. You'll probably hear just a little about that. I work to live, not live to work. :-)

I have some of the best friends on the planet...and I don't see a lot of them much anymore. I'm hoping to make some more great friends...and have started the steps that are needed...we'll see. Its difficult for me, and you probably read about that too. My Vicksburg MOPS /BOWMAR girls...I miss you daily, even a year later, and knowing we made the right decision. Y'all have too much info about me you could use for blackmail. :-)

Don't get me wrong, I do have some great friends here too. Matter of fact, I have two I consider sisters, and one has practically adopted my kids as nieces, (and my dogs too!) She's awesome. Fabulous...rocks...but she doesn't like to get too girly or mushy.

I'm NOT a girly girl, but I'm not granola crunchy either. I don't wear make up, don't care about clothes or shoes -other than the fact that I have some that fit and aren't ratty. I'm a pony tail girl that can't remember her last hair cut (!). I'm a jeans and tshirt girl. Yet somehow I manged to get to very girly girls born to me. Really, those genes must have come from someone else...or God's sense of humor is out. I'll have to hire someone to teach them how to put on makeup...seriously!

I'm more comfortable with a bunch of guys in a creek up to my rear in mud than I'll ever be in a room full of women...but I'm better than I used to me. Thats an area God is working on, and has been for five years (more about MOPS later).

I care about the environment, I use CFC lightbulbs, have a compost pile, set my thermostat to 78 and use a clothes line during the summer - but I'm not a "greenie tree hugger" buying carbon offsets (stoopid waste of money!). I'm a converted conservative. I used to be a liberal, but I'm reformed now.

I have a lab mix shelter dog, who is awesome. We've had him almost a year. We also have a recently aquired crazy cocker spaniel - more about her later. We have two cats, a tank full of fish and a blue crawfish named Crocodile.

Thats a quick overview. Stay tuned as we fill out some of the themes and join me on my life journey.