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Christmas Card 2011

Pictures Galore Christmas

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Blessed with the Best Family!!

Well it looks like neither Kristi nor I have posted lately. I guess when life gets busy the blog gets left behind. With kristi working 4 nights a week, my internship in full speed, and general craziness we are b-u-s-y but blessed!

So for the past few months so many awesome things have happened. Let me just say that our family is awesome. Between building play houses, throwing birthday parties, paying for swim lessons and spoiling our beautiful babies, wow, just awesome. They have been doing things for us that at this point in our lives we could not afford to do for the girls. Its pretty awesome to have such a loving supportive family, best grandparents in the world on both sides!!

We love you and appreciate everything!!

In other news as of today 6/23/2011 we have less than $3,700 left to pay off, down from $34,000 last April. What a year it has been, working hard, studying hard, spending less, being content with what we have, thank you Lord for guiding us in this endeavor. It has not been easy, but it has been worth it. The burden is lifting slowly off of my shoulders :). 5 more weeks of being in debt and we are done forever (besides the house).

Ok, back to the internship work!!

Happy Fiesta!!

DSCN1299, originally uploaded by cordeauphotos.

Happy Fiesta San Antonio!!

Nothing Since Christmas?

Where have the Cordeau's gone?
Well let me tell you...
No where! We are still here. Brian is working hard. He had his intership approved and will start in May and hopefully finish up his Masters Degree in December. Im so very proud of him.
Im on target to lose 100lbs in 2011. January I lost 10.4 lbs and February I lost 3.4lbs.
February was kind of a rough month all the way around. I was sick and when I wasnt sick one of the girls were.
And then I worked A WHOLE LOT for me. But everything in our house was breaking down.
First: An after hours plumbing call that put us back $350.00
Then: A faulty transmission in our washing machine. After an $80 service call for him to tell me that it was more expensive to fix then to buy a new one. So off to Lowes we go. A nice new washing machine $550.00
And to finish out the month of hemorrhaging money, our garbage disposal done disposing, and there is water backing up in the sick. GROSS! Eventually it got fixed... approximate cost $250.00 and way to much time and stress.
So with my optional nursing job, when they called, I went. Lots of long nights with some super crazy people. Not a whole lot of sleep. But its good I was sick for a week with bronchitis, bc that really was a chance for me to pay it forward to the sleep fairy.
But its all good. You have Let Go and Let God!
We have a goal to pay off the last 9k of our debt asap! So along with all the stuff we had to fix, we still managed to pay about $1300 to my bff sallie mae! Dave would be so proud!
The girls are great! I cant believe I have almost 3 year old twins! WHAT?
I promise I am going to be better about posting more, so that you dont have to read an entire two months worth of info in one ginormous post!

Loves!

Christmas 2010

I know that Christmas is not about the gifts that are given or received. But I was to tell you about a few of the gifts that the girls received.
The girls enjoyed an amazing Christmas this year. And it was so much fun watching them. This was the first time that they were able to have fun with the wrapping paper and the toys and all that good stuff. It was awesome. They got all things Dora, a doll house, new tricylcles, and helmets. Brian and I made out pretty good also! But of all the gifts that they were given on Christmas day, the most perfect gift came a few days later in the mail.
Each daughter received a card in the mail from Ft. Davis. Little did I know that when I opened the card I would be nearly brought to tears by what was inside it. My brother Cleat and his family made a gift in honor of each girl to Heifer International. This gift is literally a gift that will keep on giving for a struggling family. What an amazing opportunity to change a family for generations to come. If you dont know anything about Heifer International-google them.
We so greatly appreciate all the gifts the girls received this year. And they have enjoyed playing with them.

the doll house

DSCN0855, originally uploaded by cordeauphotos.

The Aftermath

DSCN0950, originally uploaded by cordeauphotos.

This was approximately 10 minutes after the girls realized that those gifts were for them and they could tear the paper to shreds.

Before

DSCN0902, originally uploaded by cordeauphotos.

This was the gifts all nice and neat on Christmas morning.

Fellowship Team

DSCN0570, originally uploaded by cordeauphotos.

Brian and I have been hosting a fellowship team at our house on Tuesday Nights for the last 11 months. This has been a rewarding and challenging experience all at the same time. Rewarding because we have grown closer to the people that you see in this picture and we have had the privilege of watching them grow closer to God and deeper in their Faith. Which is amazing!! Challenging because we have times were we wonder if we are the right people for this job. If God was sure what he was doing when he entrusted us with the group of people. At the end of the day we are reminded that this and everything we do is in His divine plan.
This was our White Elephant Christmas party. We ate a Riley's BBQ in Blanco and then drove on to Johnson City to see Christmas lights. This group of people are the ones that we do life together with. We are there for each other, we have honest, loving relationships, even when the truth is not what we always want to hear. This is our family and we look forward to another great year of spiritual growth, deeper relationships with each other and LOTS of fun in 2011

This Year Will Be Different

Nearly every Christmas in the past has followed us around for several months after December and not in a good way... This year we resolved to pay for Christmas gifts in December, not in January through June like we have nearly every year we have been married. For me this was just standard, buy a bunch of things and then pay them off later. This year I want the good parts of Christmas to follow us around like memories, celebrations, etc, but not the bills LOL.

Christmas is a time to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, not to celebrate Santa and making the credit cards work double overtime. So this year for the first time Kristi and I actually made a budget for what we can spend for each of our family members and are sticking to it. In the past we just went to Target, Malls, Etc and just spent until the day was over without really thinking about what the balance would be. We were just plain irresponsible with what God had provided us. We always have given to others especially through things like giving trees, and other charities, but we always spent money we didn't really have a the time, mostly because we weren't paying attention.

So this year we are doing a few gifts for family and some friends and giving to others, but mostly we are just going to make memories with our friends and family. We are going to have a great Christmas dinner, go see the lights at Johnson City and do little things with friends and family. The gifts fade, break, etc, but the memories will last forever. For instance one of my favorite memories from last Christmas was going to Johnson City with our friends and just hanging out looking at Christmas lights. Sure we exchanged gifts afterward, but the best part was just spending time with our friends and kids.

CHRISTMAS 2010

Colorful Joy 2010 Christmas

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I'm Thankful for.....

As I sit down to write this my daughter Aida has come to ask me to open her purse for the 150th time in the last 15 minutes. Kallison is looking frantically for her cell phone and along the way collecting as many bracelets as she can fit on one arm. And I can just think of how thankful I am for these beautiful little girls. Then I began to reflect on the previous years around Thanksgiving and what I was Thankful for in the Past. I soon realize that most of the life changing decisions, choices, and God's plans come to play out in the month of November. I think he does that so that I never forget how amazing He is and how EVERYTHING happens in his timing. My mind quickly races to November 2007. When we announced to our families that we were having twins. And being so grateful and thankful to our amazing support systems that surround us and how awesome our families were.
Then as I think about family I am reminded of November 2009. That November was for so many reasons one of the most life changing, eye opening, amazing months of my life. It was full of so many emotions that words really cant describe. But I will try and give you a glimpse in to the roller coaster month of my life that has forever challenged me and changed me and for that I am ever so Thankful.
After a year and a half at our church Brian and I were very much involved. I was in leadership, Brian served on set up team, we were in Fellowship team training, we had great friends. But there was something missing and by an weird turn of events, Brian and I were baptized by some of our closest friends. I am ever so thankful for their persistent love and encouragement. I know that I am most Thankful for God's Amazing Grace and his Unconditional love and forgiveness for his children.
In May 2009, I began a 6 month training program to run the Rock and Roll marathon. With encouragement from Brian and friends, I trained and focused my energies on being able to run 26.2 miles. Brian trained as well, but due to an injury he was unable to complete training. I could have and would have easily quit, however, I did not. Instead, I ran long runs on Saturdays and during the week. I was up to running 18 miles. The longest I had ever run. And no lie, it took forever. It was a challenge everyday. I hurt, I cried, I was dehydrated, I was slow, I smelled bad... you name it. But in August after 18 miles, I got sick. Quit training during the week and just did long runs, and thought about quitting. As a compromise to my ego, I settled for running the Half Marathon. So on November 15th I ran 13.1 miles through downtown San Antonio. It required determination that I was sure I did not have in my self, In that short 13.1 miles, I went through every emotion possible. For my fellow runners 13.1 is a walk in the park, for me, for someone who hates to work out more than anything it was an accomplishment of a life time. I know I will never do it again! I remember calling my dad to tell him I finished. I remember how amazed and proud of me he was. And I remember telling him I received a metal for finishing and I couldn't wait to show it to him over Thanksgiving.
He never got to see it. He died a week later. And that brings us to the most private, challenging and cherished parts of the last year. And ultimately what I am most Thankful for this year.
And that is Gods loving embrace in the darkest of days. Family support, love, care, kindness and compassion. And for friends that are always there to give encouragement, truth in love, and best of all HUGS.

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Remembering Granpa

DSC04410, originally uploaded by cordeauphotos.

Granpa would have been 68 this year. Granpa loved birthdays. He loved any celebration really. So this year no detail was spared in remembering him. The day was complete with chocolate covered strawberries, yellow message balloons and artichokes. I know that you are far to young to remember him and the time that you did get to spend with him. But I hope that the small things that we do to remember him and the stories that you hear about him will help you to realize what an amazing man he was.

First Soccer Game

DSC04382, originally uploaded by cordeauphotos.

Thanks Granpa for taking us to our first soccer game. GO DYNAMO'S

Hold that thought!

DSC04368, originally uploaded by cordeauphotos.

Kallison

Gloves

DSC04363, originally uploaded by cordeauphotos.

Aida loves to read. She also loves to make sure that her feet stay sterile as she reads and walks around the house. \
She wont keep shoes and socks on, but she will wear gloves on her feet all day long!

$20k paid since May!!!

16k car loan – gone

4k stupid (I mean student) loan – gone

12k stupid (I mean student) loan – in progress

We sold the car for what the loan was and paid it off, bye bye car payment. This car payment was a huge burden on our young family and was difficult to shoulder every month. When we first got the CR-V we thought we needed it for our family, its amazing how we were able to justify this huge purchase that we really could not afford since Kristi would not be working. I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time, but now that I look around on craigslist I see many many cars that are drivable and wouldn’t put us in the poor house. That being said having only one car is not without difficulties such as the pick up drop off schedule is different each day by a few minutes here and there. Luckily I have a flexible job in that respect, and being there past 5 is actually nice because there are fewer emails!!

The biggest change we have really made are that we stay out of malls, target, best buy, baby’s R Us…and all of the other stores unless we absolutely need something. Before we spent time wandering the aisles aimlessly and putting this and that into our cart, by the time we hit the register it was a $75 - $100 bill and oops we didn’t really need all of this stuff. Now we rarely venture into these stores unless there is a purpose and we have been paying cash for everything mostly not even using debit card except for gas. Small changes make a big difference.

Another big change was we stayed out of restaurants except for special occasions. We had been going out to eat 3+ times per week and one month we spent close to $500 on eating at restaurants. Wow that is a huge number, now we spend less than about $75 on going out to eat. We probably go out to eat or fast food less than 5 times per month. Well we have a long way to go still, but we will get there eventually. By the time it’s all said and done we will have an extra $1k to put towards things that really matter.

Don’t Worry be Happy !!

Remember that song by Bobby McFerrin, if you are too young here is the youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9K4BKkLaCI. It’s just a goofy song but makes me smile every time, and it has some truth to it as well. Last week I looked at our calendar and it was packed full of this and that, Kristi working, going here and there and I was thinking wow we really have no family time this week. I was not happy about it and was really getting frustrated about it. Strangely enough as the week came and went it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be, we had plenty of time as a family and got everything done that needed to be done.

When I worry about something it accomplishes nothing. It frustrates me and I make a big deal of nothing. Most times what I am worried about never happens and so the time used worrying about it is wasted. Not to mention God tells us not to worry about anything that He will take care of us. Why is this so hard to grasp when the daily grind sets in?

Matthew 6:25 -27

²⁵"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life^a]">[a]?

I should not spend time worrying about daily problems, concerns, issues, etc, it will do no good. The time spent worrying is time spent away from my Father because I am not putting my faith in Him to take care of the situation. I know in my heart that He is always in control, but when I let my head get in the way worry can easily set in. My prayer today is that worry fades away from me, that I will not rely on myself but my Savior to remain in control at all times!!