Grams

For some reason, Easter is one of the holidays where I miss my Grandma Ballou the most. I always miss her, but for some reason it always hits me really hard at Easter time how much I miss her, and how much I would give to be able to see her and talk to her again. Maybe it's the fact that we would always take her out to breakfast on Easter, how much she loved this particular holiday, or how many churches seem to be decorated with hydrangeas, which was her favorite flower. Whatever the reason may be, I am reminded once again how much I miss her and how grateful I am to have had her as my Grams.
Grams, I am so lucky to have had you in my life. You were one of the sweetest and kindest people I have ever known, and you had more strength than I could ever have. Despite all of the hardships you dealt with in your life, I don't remember ever seeing you without a smile on your face. You loved and cherished every moment of life, and you always saw the good in everything. You were the eternal optimist, and I wish I could emulate you in that way, see the good in everything instead of thinking or worrying about the bad. I miss hearing your laugh. I love how you passed on your coffee addiction to me :)
You were the most considerate and least judgmental person I have ever known, and had more love in you than a hundred people put together. If I could be half the person that you were, I would consider myself lucky. I love you so much and think of you every day. I miss you more than you know. I know you will have a wonderful Easter in Heaven with Jesus and that brings me comfort. Love, Jenny.

Good Friday

"They brought him to the place of Golgotha (which is translated Place of the Skull). They gave him wine drugged with myrrh, but he did not take it. Then they crucified him and divided his garments by casting lots for them to see what each should take. It was nine o' clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, "The King of the Jews." With him they crucified two revolutionaries, one on his right and one on his left. Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself by coming down from the cross." Likewise the chief priests, with the scribes, mocked him among themselves and said, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe." Those who were crucified with him also kept abusing him. At noon the darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three o' clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Some of the bystanders who had heard it said, "Look, he is calling Elijah." One of them ran, soaked a sponge with wine, put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to take him down." Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. When the centurion who stood facing him saw how he breathed his last he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!" - Mark 15: 22-39

Thank you Jesus for your unending love and forgiveness, and for the sacrifice you made for each and every one of us.

Prayer requests

For anyone who reads this blog I would really appreciate any extra prayers for a couple of friends of mine....
My good friend Melissa who I have known since freshman year of undergrad at MSU has been an amazing support for her 28-year old husband Nate who is battling leukemia (AML-M2 for my veterinarian or doctor friends). Clinically he is doing much better now and is able to go home this weekend, but still has to undergo several more treatments. Please pray for them and for Nate's recovery.
A very good friend of my immediate family named Colleen (she swam for my Dad years ago at East High School) recently found out her husband Chris has pancreatic cancer. He is 35 years old and they have three young children, one of which has been in and out of the hospital because of hydrocephalus. Please pray for their family and for Chris's healing.

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened" - Matthew 7: 7-8

Semester Two

I apologize for my lack of updates - this semester has been crazy busy for me! My systemic path class is taking up most of my time that I am not on duty or teaching the vet students. I will be VERY glad when this class is over but I have learned a lot from it and I still really love my residency! It is such an amazing feeling to know you are exactly where you should be in life - it is such a breath of fresh air!
Steve and I were able to take a short trip to San Antonio recently (that is where the picture was taken) and it was SO much fun. What a beautiful and fun city! We are considering going back there for our anniversary since Maui isn't an option financially at the moment! ;)
My parents visited recently as well - the NCAA swimming championships were here at Texas A&M and my dad is an official for that meet every year. It was great having him and my mom here for a little while! In May we will be able to see Steve's family and Wes (yay!) for a quick weekend when we go to Drew's wedding up in Michigan. That will be a quick but fun weekend and I'll be sure to post pictures when we get back.
So that is all for now....I'll leave with the thought of how proud I am of the MSU Spartan basketball team for making it to the NCAA championship! They played so well this year and were a pleasure to watch. I'm so proud to be a Spartan alum! Go Green!

Wow

So I recently finished reading all four books of the Twilight series. Wow, what phenomenal books! Definitely one of the best, if not THE BEST series I have ever read. I highly recommend them to anyone! The movie was very good too! Looking forward to the next movie and hoping a fifth book is a possibility :)