Memorial Day

"There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends"  John 15:13

Today is  day for remembering those who have given their life so that we can have the freedom we do today.  Whether hey served in the civil war, or served in the most recent wars, we will not forget them.  They gave the ultimate sacrifice for us.  It's really an amazing thing.  I am so thankful for what they did for me.  

I am praying for the families who have lost a loved one. 

I am so thankful that I have Chad here today.  There were many times he should have died, but God is so good! 

May God bless America!

Summer School

Hopefully I won't be too busy to keep up here while school is in for the summer.

Life has been crazy lately.  I haven't been able to come up with much to blog about.  This weekend I have been EXTREMELY busy!  Friday I was helping out at the church, then started getting some stuff ready to move to my sister's new house her and her roommates are renting.  Then Saturday I had an awesome baby shower at 10am, and then went to my sister's new house.  Then today church, lunch, sister's house, Sam's Club, sister's house, home.

WHEW!  I am just glad I have tomorrow off from school to relax a little bit.  Plus, I have some cleaning and other things to do.  These next few weeks will be pretty intense.  I have the first week of school, and then next week there is half of my State exam which I have not been able to study NEAR as much as I wanted.  Believing God that he is going to take care of me and help me remember everything.  Only 12% have been passing...oy!  That night I go to a meeting about volunteering for helping out at the Texas Court Reporters Association convention that weekend!  Then Saturday I attend the student portion of the convention.  Plus, Chad will be gone for his 2 weeks leave starting the beginning of June.  And on top of that, I have to take Cooper to his biannual check-up on Wednesday while I am at school.

So, I have a busy time coming up.  But, God is good, and I know He will take care of me.  I'm just REALLY glad He is in control!

I have to admit, I am a little nervous.  I am just SO ready to be done with school, it isn't even funny.  I'm afraid I didn't work hard enough.

I guess we will see...

And for now, I am going to go study.

Change is in the Air.

"For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven."  ~Ecclesiastes 3:1


There is definitely a lot of change going on in my life.  Part of the reason why I haven't blogged in so long.  I have a lot on my mind!  


Definitely a rough season I'm going through, but I know it will be good in the end.  God is good like that.


There are so many things that could change, so even just knowing what could possibly change isn't possible.  Theres school, friendships, church, jobs, living situations...everything with the possibility of change.  


It's overwhelming I have to admit.  But, I know God is in control, and loves me, and wants the best for me.  I may not be able to see everything just yet, but I know He is going to work it all out!  I just wish I could have a little bit of a hint. haha.  


So, I am sorry for my absence, but there is a lot going on in my life right now, and I am trying to get a handle on it all.  Plus, school starts back next week (pray for me).  


So, I'll try and find something fun to post about next time!

Court Reporting

As some of you know, I am going to school for Court Reporting.  Sometimes it can be really confusing to understand what I am talking about, so I am going to try and explain a little bit about it here.  I'll probably be mostly talking about the schooling part.

Now, this may get a little confusing, so I'm sorry if it does!  You learn a whole new language to be able to write on the machine.  It's called steno.  It's an ongoing process.  You learn something new pretty much every day. 

It also takes a LOT of practice time.  You have to be able to write at 225 WPM on the machine.  So, you are basically learning a new motor skill and a new language at the same time.  Does this explain a little as to why school can take FOREVER to get out of?

There are three categories: Jury Charge (JC), Literary (Lit), and Question and Answer (QA).  In each speed class you have to pass 3 in each category to be able to get an A.  Each class has different speeds.  JC and QA are usually the same speed, and Lit is usually 20 WPM lower.  You cannot move on to another class until you have either gotten a B (2 passes in each category) or an A.  Another reason school can take forever. 

To pass the State Exam in the State of Texas, you have to pass a 225 QA, 200 JC, and a 180 Lit at 95% all at the same time.  My school requires you pass two mock exams at 97%.  Basically, the same speeds as the state exam, only at 97%.  Sometimes I wish they wouldn't, BUT I know that I can do it when I go take the State test.  There is also a knowledge part of the rules you have to follow according to your state.  Not all state's have a state certification.  Texas and California have the hardest.  Of course, I have to live in one of the toughest states!  Oh well...

I hope this helps explain a little bit more as to what I am doing in school, and if you ever read/hear me talk about it, you'll understand a little bit better.  I'm always more than happy to answer any questions.

As of right now (before summer semester starts) I need two more 200 QA's for an A, then I will be trying for my mock exams!  So, I am nearing the end...just hoping I can push it hard enough to be done with school this summer!!

How I Met My Husband

I tried to post this the other day, but of course, blogger went down and decided to only save half!  I hope you enjoy!

I had been dating a guy who was in the Navy, and when he left for a deployment, he decided to cheat on me over there.  Honestly, I'm kind of glad now, because I could have REALLY screwed up my life if I married him. 

So, I went through a little bit of a rough period in my life.  But I have always been patriotic, so I decided to sign up to send a troop some carepackages.  The war had started maybe a year or 2 before.  So, I signed up for soldier's angels.  I submitted my name to "adopt" a soldier.  I prayed before I hit the send button.  I was threw with men, and I asked God that if ANYTHING was going to come from this, that it was going to be the one.  I didn't want to play games or guess anymore.

So, I got my name and contacted the guy.  He was 34 married, and had 4 kids.  Needless to say, he got a lot of mail.  He was only asking for things for the kids in Iraq.  I asked him if he knew someone who didn't get a lot of mail.  He sent me Chad's e-mail.

I contacted Chad, and told him where I got his e-mail from.  We started talking, and became friends.

Soon the time came for him to come home for his 2 weeks leave.

I think he was joking, or being nice, but he had invited me to come up and see him on his 2 weeks leave.  He was going to New Hampshire where his parents live, and where he is from.  I don't really know how, but I convinced my parents to let me go up there and meet him for the first time!  I know they prayed a lot, and they also talked to Chad on the phone.  My dad thought it was the coolest thing because he was in Vietnam and only got one 10 minute CB call home the whole time they were there.  My dad tried scaring him away with gun talk, but Chad came back telling him a ton of info about the guns he was talking about.  I think my dad fell in love then ;)

So, I fly to New Hampshire.  I really wasn't nervous, but my dad was a little emotional.  He was the one who took me to the airport, and after he dropped me off, he had called me and left a voicemail that I didn't get until I got to my layover.  He was crying...Rip my heart out!!!  I was perfectly calm, until I get to the baggage claim in New Hampshire, look around, and see all women in the airport.  Well, as far as I can remember they were all women.  I was thinking "Well, at least he isn't some old man trying to get me by pretending to be a soldier".  Then I see him walk into the airport with the BIGGEST smile on his face. 

Come to find out, he was going to try and steal a piece of my luggage...but decided not to with airport security there.  Punk...

We had the most wonderful 9 days together with his family in Maine and New Hampshire.  (I will post pictures in a minute).

Then it came time for us to part our ways.  Unfortunately I had booked my ticket for 5 hours after his was supposed to take off.  I tried to get my flight time changed, but they could only get me on a flight 2 hours after his.  They even had to pay people to get off of his flight it was so overbooked.  That was the hardest thing.  Seeing him leave to the same airport I was going to, and not being able to go with him.  I wasn't even able to see him when I got there, because he was in a special place they keep soldiers going back to their deployment.   I also had a 6 hour layover there because they couldn't change my connecting flight.  It was horrible...

I finally got home at 11 p.m. and was just ready to go home and not worry about it anymore.  He actually stayed in Atlanta for 3 more days because his planes kept malfunctioning, even running off of the runway a couple of times!! 

He was back in Iraq for 4 more months, then the time came for him to come home for good!!  I was able to go up to his base, and welcome him home.  I guess you could say the rest is history!

A Little About Me

Well, I figured I would post a little bit about my life, so that you guys can get to know me better. I'm not sure who all will be following this blog, but, if you don't know me all that well, now you can get to know me better!

My name is Alicia.

I have been married to Chad for 3 years. (04-11-2008)

I'll have to post the way we met another time, and include pictures of that.  One of my favorite stories, I must admit!

We had planned on getting married August 1, 2009, but a deployment to Iraq threw that one off. So, we planned our first wedding in one week!! It fell together perfectly :)

Yep, we had another wedding! I told him, if he deployed, I got my dream wedding. So, I actually got both weddings of my dreams! My church wedding, and my beach wedding.

He is a police officer, and in the Army National Guard, and I am going to school to be a court reporter.

We have the best families in the world.  Chad is from New Hampshire, and I was born and raised in the great State of Texas!  We now live in Texas with my parents at the moment. 

We are trying to wait until I finish school until we buy a house, and expand our family.  We have had so many major changes in our lives lately, that we thought it would be easiest to stay with my parents (who are amazing for letting us do so).

Speaking of family, we have a 4-legged furbaby named Cooper.

Cooper is now 4 years old.  I can't believe how time flies!  He is a human child in a dog's body.  We love him as if he was our own child.  We are big dog people :)  As you can see, Cooper LOVES the beach.  His daddy takes him swimming, and he absolutely loves it!

Singing for Jesus is DEFINITELY my passion.  I am so glad that I don't have to sing for man's pleasure, but for God's alone!  He doesn't care if I mess up, or didn't hit the note right.  He loves that I even do it at all!  And that makes me happy.  We will see where the road takes us on this journey!

I also LOVE to make jewelry.  It's a hobby that I love.  I do sell it to friends and family, and I have a fanpage on Facebook ( www.facebook.com/alistcreations )  I think I might open up my Etsy store again soon.  So you can keep an eye out for that, too!  http://www.alistcreations.etsy.com/

Modeling is another hobby that I LOVE!  I don't know how far I'll go with this, because I am not trying too hard.  I love doing it, but I don't think I want the pressures of the world.  So, I just do it for my sister and a friend that I have grown up with who is like my sister.  I help them practice, and build up their portfolios. 

If you are local, and want more info about them, you can leave a comment with your e-mail address, and I can get that to you.  I do believe they sell some of their pictures online.  They have Facebook fanpages as well!  Look for M.Lee Photography, and Chain Photography.

I don't think there is much more than that.  I'm sure you'll learn more as time goes on and I make more blog posts.  I hope you enjoyed reading a little bit about me and my life.  

God is SO Good!

"But I am trusting you, Oh Lord, saying, "You are my God." ~ Psalm 31:14

Welcome to my new blog. I am hoping to keep up with this one, and not leave anyone bored. Who knows what all I will include in this, but I hope to keep it interesting!

I just have to talk about how good God is. I have been struggling with some things in my personal life. I was able to receive confirmation of things I had been feeling, but wasn't sure of.

I am so thankful for the friends I am making. I am so thankful that God cares for me, and that He loves me.

I think sometimes I get too caught up in others people's problems, and praying for them, and being concerned for them, that I forget about myself. Not necessarily a bad thing...but I do need to care for myself, too!

I have been going through a lot of change in my life lately. Hard change, but I know in the end it will be really good change.

Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for change, because change is good, right? It's just been rough, and not what I expected. Thankfully, I can already see some good things that are coming from this change, and I know this is just the beginning!! God is so good.

I hope God reveals his goodness to you soon, if He hasn't already!

Be blessed :)