2007 Holiday update

December 31, 2007

Ahhhh - the holidays in Southeast Texas….. the smell of fresh cut grass in the afternoon: the trees turning colors and losing their leaves (fall in December? Nice!); 75* days, 50* nights; at this point I‘m really thinking snow is overrated! This is great! :o) There is something special about seeing a rainbow in December…. Who knew? :o)

We hope you are enjoying the season of joy and peace. As we reflect on 2007, we are again reminded of God’s hand and power in our lives, and His overwhelming blessings. This has been a year of resolution for Grady and I, as many things that have been “pending“ are now finalized or have come to fruition. The seeds that were planted are starting to sprout! What an exciting year!

We started 2007 with Grady beginning a new job. When he was hired, we were told we would be in Dallas, Texas, but at the last minute (literally, we were signing a lease in Dallas) Grady got a call telling him we were going to Houston! Here’s the God part - when Grady and I met in person, we began praying about where God wanted us to live. Since Grady was in the job hunt, we had lots of options. We both believed God wanted us in Houston - even though I had never been there, and we had no idea why. We were surprised when Grady got the job in Hot Springs, AR, and we thought we had heard wrong. But then, over a year after God gave us a vision for Houston - He brought us here, and paid for the entire thing - with movers! He knew what he was doing all along - His timing is perfect!

Christmas day ‘06 we flew to Houston to find a place to live! Grady spent time training in Boston and getting to know his territory. I stayed with the cats and supervised the move. Mid-January the cats and I made the move to Houston with Grady. We moved into the apartment mid-February and it is really grand! We are so blessed to have this place - 3rd floor with 10’ ceilings, crown molding, granite look countertops, archways, a screened in porch (great for the cats, and no bugs for me!) and a built in desk and cabinetry in the sunroom! Oh - and how could I forget a HUGE L-shaped walk-in closet! :o) It’s not our own home, but for the time being it’s fantastic!

We spent the next few months traveling together and enjoying Texas! Grady is from Texas, so he showed me around the Hill Country where he grew up, and we have been to San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Paris (TX), and everywhere in between! I haven’t been further south than Galveston…but we will get there! I do have to admit - Texas is BIG! Alaska is bigger, but we can’t drive around it - so Texas seems MUCH bigger with lots more places to go, do and see! I never thought I would say it - but I’m really loving it here! :o)

Grady travels about 50% of the time in his territory of AR, OK, TX, LA and KS. I have been so blessed to be able to travel with him quite often - sometimes driving to meet him, or just driving with him. He flies most of the time and loves it! He knows airplanes and airports like the back of his hand! He works from home when he’s here - and is always home on the weekends! It’s been great! Grady is fantastic at leading and mentoring his “sales” guys and has been leading the sales at KMS most of the year! Score one for the new guy! :o) Go Grady! :o) That’s my sweety! :o)

However, we do know that the “job” world is very volatile, and that his job could end at any time. Having experienced that - we are “digging our well before we are thirsty“, by diversifying our income through our online store (www.jacgroup.biz). We really appreciate our friends and family that have supported us by shopping at our store, and we welcome everyone to stop by! We have had a chance to mentor some people as well through WWG, and we are developing some great friendships. We are looking forward to the future with great anticipation! Again we see God‘s timing - He has been bringing people into our lives like never before, and we see the tree growing and beginning to bear some fantastic fruit. Thank you God!

Grady officially proposed to me with a beautiful solitaire in the balcony seats at Minute Maid Park! This was so special, because our first date was a baseball game in Atlanta - Braves vs. Astros (Houston‘s team), and we sat on the very top row! Of course I’ve been a Braves fan (we won by the way) because it was my very first real baseball team I could claim. Now that Grady proposed at Minute Maid Park, I have a new reason to switch teams and root for the Astros! And I now know Minute Maid Park is the best place on earth (just as Grady planned…..he’s trying hard to make me a Texan)!

On May 25, everything came together and we were able to get married! We went to the Justice of the Peace here in Harris County, and in about 2 minutes it was official! Even though we had committed to each other almost a year before - it was great to have it official and legal! Then in July, we had a small but wonderful reception at mom and dad’s house in Alaska! It was so great to see people I hadn’t seen in a really long time, and celebrate our marriage with friends and family! My friend Kathy and her good friend Brett from Montana came up to celebrate with us and we had an awesome time together! It was a very memorable time!!

In true Debbi and Grady form - we did things a little differently in relation to our marriage…. We got married at the JP, then had the reception in Alaska with my friends and family, and finally had a wedding in Florida six months later at Thanksgiving! We brought mom, dad and my niece Lisa down to Houston to visit, then we all drove over to Navarre, Florida for Thanksgiving with Grady’s family! It was fabulous! Our families got along famously - just as we expected! The day after Thanksgiving, we had our wedding! :o)

The wedding was beautiful - and Grady’s family planned it all which was such a blessing to me! I never dreamed of a big foofy wedding, so this was perfect! We had the ceremony at the condo we rented which was on the 12th floor (penthouse) and overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. We were on the balcony with our moms and dads, and Grady’s brother-in-law’s mom Janice performed the ceremony. Her husband Robert did a reading, and we had a really neat moment where we honored our mothers by giving them a rose. Grady’s sister, Carolyn, brought their mom’s Bible with her (she went to be with Jesus about 15 years ago), and I held that with the flowers. Matt’s sister, Mary Beth, made my bouquet, Carolyn decorated the cakes, and Nancy (Grady’s second mom) and Carolyn brought tons of food for everyone to enjoy! The weather was great - cold but we were protected on the balcony. It was beautiful and I couldn’t have asked for anything better! I will cherish my “wedding day” and we are going to celebrate the day after Thanksgiving as one of our anniversaries (we have lots of special days to celebrate)!

We had a great time showing mom, dad and Lisa around Houston and just visiting with them. Since they left November 30th, we have been getting ready for the holidays, working and enjoying the warm southern Texas weather! It’s been in the 60’s and 70’s with a few colder snaps, but - no snow! Actually - let me tell you about the weather here… it’s really been remarkable! We had a beautiful spring, and got plenty of rain all summer long (but we didn’t have the flooding here in Kingwood like you saw on the news everywhere around us!). Because of the rain we had nice green lawns and trees all summer, and it really didn’t stay above 100* very long at all! Mind you - it was HOT this summer - but it wasn’t awful! :o) There was ONE very important lesson I learned about living in the south…. Grady and I got caught in a downpour that was flooding the road we were on (a four lane divided parkway). When I saw the cars coming towards me pushing water with their front bumper - I knew it was time to pull over! We waited about 30 minutes, and the storm passed…..and the water level went down…. And we drove home! If that had been snow….when the storm passed we would have had to wait until the roads were cleared to get home - AND dig ourselves out of the snow that dumped on us while we were waiting for the storm to pass! In south Texas…. We just waited, and drove home! YAY for the south! I don’t miss the snow! :o) Who knew I was such a warm-weather gal?

In August I went in for a routine check up, and was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. This was a bit of a shock as no one in my family has it, but my lifestyle and food choices have caused this. This was also a huge blow to Grady - his mother died of Diabetes complications. After much research, education and doctors input/advice, we are confident I can beat this. I understand I will always have Diabetes, but at this point there is no reason I will need to deal with the complications. Already my A1C level has dropped from 8.2% to 7.2%. We joined a gym and I have just discovered through the help of our trainer that weight training is very effective at lowering blood sugar! The weight is slowly coming off, I’m eating smaller portions, and keeping my carbohydrate intake as even as possible. Grady has been a huge support to me during this time, especially in the beginning when I was on an emotional roller coaster. Now he supports me by eating better and exercising with me, and celebrating the low blood glucose readings with me! Grady also is working to lower his blood sugar as he is pre-diabetic, and he DOES have a family history. Here’s the God part - up until June of this year, I have been living without insurance. I have been to the doctor for check ups every year and this has not come up. Now that I’m covered, it was diagnosed, and it was diagnosed early, so not much damage has been done. Not only has this been a great opportunity for us to change for the better, but we are blessed financially with insurance to help pay for the costs! Praise God!

We just returned from San Antonio, where we spent Christmas with Grady’s family! I finally met the rest of his family, and it was such a special time for him to be with everyone for the holiday. We thoroughly enjoyed visiting, baking (I learned to make pies and mac cheese!) and visiting some more! We are looking forward to spending more time with his family in Florida and Texas in 2008.

2007 has been an incredible year for us. Grady and I met just 2 short years ago, but we feel we have lived a lifetime of fun and adventures since then. God’s hand is with us, His blessings are continually poured out on us, and we are so very grateful for the opportunities He is putting in our path! We pray the same for you - that you will allow God to shake up your world, plant some seed with you, and then, in His perfect time, that you may be able to see the seeds sprout, grow and produce fruit! We hope you had a very Merry Christmas, and you have a blessed New Year! Blessings to you in 2008!