An update from us

We are still trucking along ... not many changes to report. My business is still doing well, and we feel very blessed to have continual growth in that area. I went to Houston for a conference my clients all attend. I did a booth for 8 days (plus drive down and back and setup). In prep for my booth, I was reviewing the past couple of years. I realized that in 2008 and 2009, I maintained but didn't really grow. I saw ups and downs for those two years but in the end, had almost no growth. But in 2010, I saw about a 60% growth, which made me feel so blessed. Because of my booth, this year looks to be equally as promising. I had a 28% growth in January ... yes, just in one month. It was great. The drawback is I've got a ton of work to do to get all the clients setup. Not a bad problem to have though.

Steve continues to work very hard in audioShare but we are still looking for investment money to really launch it off the ground. He is also starting to do some "technical" consulting and work for individuals and small businesses. He knows phone systems, computers, networking and printers. He's also interested in offering a monthly service to small businesses to maintain all their technology in their office. We are hoping he can find a few projects every month to help us out a bit. So if you know anyone who needs a technical expert, send them our way.

Its been a very emotional journey the last 17 months or so. But the last month or so has been REALLY tough. Not sure why, maybe its just the length and intensity of this trial. Maybe its because of the holidays. Maybe its the intensity of the stress I've been under. Maybe its how buried I am with work so I feel overwhelmed all the time. Who knows. But for whatever reason, I've been a cryer lately, pretty stressed and not as much fun to be around. I'm doing my best to stay strong, have continued faith, keep my spirits up and focus on our blessings and just keep things going. I'm working on it so don't give up on me. I truly appreciate all the love and support from so many of you.

The girls are growing like crazy. My baby turns 6 on Monday. I can't believe how big she has gotten. Jessica's in kindergarten but really plays up in age. She considers all of Taylor's friends HER friends and was heartbroken when Tay got invited to a birthday party and she didn't. She is very smart and probably a little bored in kindergarten but doing really well. She dances (but complains every week about having to go) and is definitely bored in her dance class. She started out behind the other girls but has caught up quickly and surpassed them and is more mature than they are (thus the bored). Her teacher is trying to keep her excited and involved, but Jess says she doesn't want to take next year. She also takes a little gymnastics class and LOVES that. She loves to help around the house too, which is fun. She's my ray of sunshine. She loves to smile and make others smile.

Alyssa is in 5th grade, and going on 13 or 15... A little attitude that goes a LONG way. :) She loves to dance and learn. She loves projects and getting hands on. She is excited to get to babysit for little bits here and there for her sisters. She likes to help when she wants and loves to be in charge. Not my personality at all. :) She is strong willed and excited about everything. She loves to be involved and really tries to help our family. She's always looking for coupons and freebies to help us stretch the dollar. Just recently she and Taylor have started getting a long a lot better which is nice. Its been fun to see them grow into their friendship.

Taylor will be 8 in June and is loving 2nd grade. She has grown up so much, its amazing. Sunday she gave a talk at church. She stood up there and read 3-4 big paragraphs with no problem at all ... she wasn't shy about it. Everyone could hear her very plain. She still has times when she mumbles, especially when she leaves messages for her friends, but she has really come out of her shell and sometimes astonishes me at her ability to talk. We're still working with her on a daily basis with her eating problems. She has not made much improvement but she does know that no matter what she does we're still going to make her try something so that's progress, I guess. For awhile she was keeping a list with all the foods she was trying. She liked to tell her school class about it too. She filled an entire steno notebook page front and back with different foods she tried (she was bribed by Karianna). :) She also loves to help around the house. Yesterday, she cleaned my kitchen without being asked. I asked her to unload the dishwasher and after she finished, she vacuumed the run under the table, cleaned the table off and set it for dinner, then swept all the rest of my kitchen just because she felt like it.

So, that's the scoop on our family recently.