The last day of 2007

Ok so two amazing things happened at the end of 2007. My best friend got engaged and she asked me to be her Matron of Honor!! And also I got a tattoo that I wanted for a VERY long time! Now tonight...we're having a New Year's Eve party :) What a great day it is!! Can't wait for 2008 to be here!

A new addition!

So take a look at my wrist...this will be the last time you will see it with nothing on it :) After this weekend i will be adding a new addition to my skin! What could it be???? Stay tuned!

Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS...from Gregory, Rachael, and Enrique (a stuffed fighting rooster-Mr Walkup's classroom pet)

I hope everyone is having a great Christmas this year! Ours has been really sad! :( But we are trying to be thankful for the life we have. It's hard when you have one mom in the hospital and the other one with her back out. We spent Christmas Eve in the hospital all day (except for a delicious dinner and the aunt and uncles) and today we will be going to my parents house where we will cook for my mom.

I woke up this morning with my heart feeling a little broken. The only way I know to fill it is to remember that today is Jesus' birthday and we must celebrate him today. But then I go back to what Christmas was when I was little. Things were so simple-I can remember being so excited to see what Santa brought. We were spending time with family...there wasn't any sadness...there wasn't any responsiblity...there wasn't any worries...there was only good ole fun. I can close my eyes and go back to that time in a second. Oh how I wish I could actually be there if only just for a few minutes. My favorite Christmas was spent in Niceville, FL with Maw and Pawee (my grandparents). I think it was the Christmas of 1992. I was 10 yrs old and Matthew was 5 yrs old. Santa brought our gifts but he hid then all over their house and we had to go on a scavenger hunt. It was awesome. I can see Maw running around and Pawee rooting us on. Mom of course was following us around with the video camera. It was such a fun day. I can smell Maw and Pawee's house right now. Maw always made a breakfast casserole that was so yummy!

Then I open my eyes and see Gregory (who's asleep on the couch right now, ha ha) I'm so thankful for our little family. We made breakfast together and then we've just been relaxing. Except, I did steam clean the carpet with the awesome cleaner we got from Aunt Nellie and Uncle D! It's funny how gifts change. I think if I had gotten this 5 yrs ago I would have been like umm ok. But this year it was the best gift ever!! I couldn't wait to put it together this morning and try it out :) Alright, I'm going to relax for a little bit and then get ready to go over to my parents. Sorry for all the sappiness this morning. I just have so much on my mind today.

But I do have one question...what is your favorite Christmas memory?

It's hard to believe...

This New Years Eve will be 2 years since Gregory asked me to marry him!!! Time goes by so fast. I still can think of that night like it was yesterday. I found this video as I was going through a bunch of wedding folders we had on our old computer. So I thought I would share :) It's only a minute long. Short, sweet, and to the point! Have a look and listen closely for when the countdown ends. I loved that night. I have never been so surprised in my whole life.

So, a new year is on it's way...what's your new years resolution??

Men and Women

So I know the video is kinda long, but it's so true. It takes me an hour to get ready, yet Gregory can be ready in 5 minutes!! Women are made so differently from men. I think it's funny to think about all the differences. For instance, I like to be on a schedule but my husband likes to go with the flow. For me I like to be with the girls so we can talk-but Gregory can hang with the guys watching a basketball game and never say a word and that was just what he needed. Do you think opposites attract? I know for us it seems that way. In places where he is strong, I am weak and vice versa. Thats why I think we fit together so well.

Oh and one more thing, I made the sofrito and it was perfecto :) I'm very proud of myself, pretty good for a white girl!

God speaks

Alright, it's Friday thats always a good thing. Actually it's a great thing. What are your plans for the weekend? Gregory and Joel will be building a railing around our back deck. I'm really exited about that! I will be spending time with Candace. And also attempting to make sofrito by myself for the first time! Just in case you don't know what it is, i will tell you :) Sofrito is a Spanish seasoning used in rice, chicken, beef, and other dishes. It consists of garlic, peppers, onions, ham, and other secret ingredients (sorry my lips are sealed).

My thought for the day is this: "Getting to know God isn't as difficult as it may seem. It is a simple matter of reading the Bible." That is so true. As a small group we have been reading the Bible and it's so amazing to see how God speaks to everyone in a different way.

Ok so I have two questions for those of you reading: (1) any big plans this weekend? (2) what is God saying to you?

Love always-
R

Submit yourself to God

"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up." -James 4:10

So, this morning in my quiet time I read this verse. And then I read it again. What does it mean to humble yourself? So I looked up humble in the dictionary. Humble: having or showing a low estimate of ones own importance. Am I humble? I'm not really sure. I think sometimes we try to be humble but then we end up the opposite. In order to be humble we must do it without doing it on purpose. What does that look like? Well, theres a thought for you to ponder on today.

--Just a quick update on my mom-in-law, please keep her in prayer. She's recovering from surgery in the hospital. --

-R

addictions...

You will be stuck on this forever. See if you can beat Ryan Clevenger's high score, 331520 :)

http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/g3/bells.htm

Starting to Blog....

So, I have decided it might be fun for the Walkup family to have a blog. Not sure if anyone will read it...but it's worth a try. I like to write and this will be a fun way to keep others up with the Walkup way of life. So WELCOME to the world of Walkup (That was a lot of "W's"). Hope you enjoy this!
Love-
G and R