Cruising...

Well, my final vacation of the year begins on Saturday. I know - I have already taken two and I am spoiled - I know - I do not have to be told. I am blessed to have a dad and step mom who like to travel and take a few tag alongs with them! We will be leaving on Friday to spend the night in Mobile and board the ole cruise ship on Saturday to Cozumel and Progresso (no clue about Progresso - all I know is that it is more than a soup - its an island in the Yucatan Peninsula). This will be a bittersweet vacation. This will probably be the last one where we are all together and single (see the post below - Going to the Chapel). We always have a great time on our cruises and I think my parents like them because they don't have to worry about entertaining us. We just do our own thing and see them at dinner and when we get off the boat. So, just as I did for the beach vacation - below is my list of what I am most excited about...

• Rooming with Nicole - we do well rooming together. We are alot alike and have a lot of the same habits.
• Playing Phase 10. We play game after game on these trips. Love it!
• Seeing a new island. I hope it has a good beach.
• Sleeping late. I love the dark rooms.
• People watching
• Food - of course the food. Its a cruise!
• Shopping
• The cheesy shows
• B-I-N-G-O - this is the only form of gambling I do. I love to play Bingo on the boat. I won last year too :)
• Cheesy photos that the people on the boat are always taking and wanting you to buy
• The funny waiters we always get
• Looking out at the endless sea and seeing how amazing God's creation is.
• Spending QT with the family

Things I dread...

• Life jacket drill - I hate this. They smell and its hot.
• Drunk people - I like people watching - but I hate seeing how obnoxious the drunk people are.
• Body odor of the workers on the boat. Attn Cruise Ship Owners: Please tell your workers to wear deodorant. No one wants to smell them. Its disgusting!
• Crowds - gosh the crowds. Crowded elevators, crowded pools, crowded eating. People think they are the only ones on the boat.
• Not having the kids with us. I know it is a huge break for Tracy and for all of us in general - but once we are at dinner - I feel like we are not a whole family. We are missing the little ones. We find ourselves missing them and talking about them a lot on the trip. But, I also know its good for a break too and they will have fun with my mom.

Of course the good always outweighs the bad...I am very thankful to get to go and am very excited!! Reports on the trip when I return!

Gina the Book Worm

I usually go through phases where I read - usually on vacations or when I am traveling is where I do the most reading (other than my personal Bible study), and the past couple of years I haven't even done much travel reading at all. Until this summer. I have been my own little book worm this summer! My friend Stephanie has been talking about, for at least a year now, Karen Kingsbury books and how great they were. I made fun of her - I will admit it. I mean Christian fiction - really - how cheesy can that be?

In May I was in a Christian bookstore and they had them on sale so out of curiosity and boredom I decided to pick one up. Stephanie told me I bought the correct one to begin the series of the Baxter family. So, I read here and there throughout May when I was stopped at a red light or waiting on someone or in a drive thru. When I went on vacation - I became enthralled in this book and the saga of the family. I realized A) I was wrong and Christian fiction isn't just about Amish people and it isn't cheesy. It has real life stories and consequences in it. B) I was wrong for making fun of Steph - she was right - I told her that myself. C) I can be a book worm! I was obsessed with finishing the book at the beach. Once I finished it - I had to go to the book store and purchase the next one (because you know - they tempt you with the first chapter of the next book at the end). To my dismay - they didn't have the second book. Of course - they had every other one, but the one I wanted. So, I picked up a two books in one about September 11th by Ms. Kingsbury. These two books were huge and to my surprise - I was enthralled again and finished them both - in four days. Since I returned from the beach - less than a month ago - I have finished two more and am working on another. I have also checked out two more from the church library.

I know you are probably saying - Gina read something more than fiction - but honestly - these books are teaching me a lot about the human spirit and the struggles people face. I am learning when the going gets tough - keep going - don't give up so easy. The "Baxter family" has been rocked with adultery, murder, HIV, falling away from the Lord and your family, coming back to the Lord, finding lost loves, unwed pregnancy and I have only read three books. But, through it all the Lord never has left their side. People tell us divorce him/her they are having an affair - but Kari didn't. She stuck it out and the Lord led her through that and rewarded her for her obedience. Each family member has its own story and I could go on and on - that is just one example. But, these books are GREAT!

So, ladies if you want a good author to read - go to Karen Kingsbury! God truly uses this woman to touch hearts of many and she has been used to touch my heart as well!

PS - always have some tissue with you - you never know when you might need it :)

Going to the Chapel....

Well, it finally happened. A Handley/Hughes girl is engaged. In our family there are four girls. We range in ages from 32 to 20. And of course - none of us are married. My dad makes fun of the fact, in his own loving way, that we haven't even had a nibble of a proposal - but deep down I think he is glad - weddings cost so he has had time to save up for hopefully four nuptials. Naturally you would think that the 32 year old (aka me) got engaged. But, sorry to disappoint my blogging audience - its not me. Or the other two closest to me - its the baby of the family - the 20 year old - Nicole. Ronald and Nicole have been dating for a few years now and we knew it was coming. He had asked for the hand in marriage back in May. So, we knew it was only a matter of time. Everyone is excited for them - I think it might be a little bittersweet actually. Happy, yet sad, the baby of all people is engaged. Its not supposed to work that way, so they say. The older girls have needed to prepare the parents for marriage - not the baby. But, I say why not get prepared and jump in head first with the baby! :) Not sure if the date has been set yet. Sometime next year I think. It will be sad and exciting for everyone all at the same time. Exciting to make plans (new blog topic in the next year) and see them happy and in love! Sad because it is the baby and she is all grown up now - she is still supposed to be that little cute 6 year old who we wrestled with all the time. I know she is going to make a great wife and Ronald a great husband. They love each other very much and we are very excited to have a brother in the family. Congrats Nicole and Ronald!!!

Here are the Handley/Hughes girls in 1996. Our first official sisters portrait. Nicole was so young then...

And now 12 years later - here's Ronald proposing to our grown up Nicole!

Krispy Kreme Krew

I have a group of girls from my church who I have watched grow up the past six years. I have taught them in SS and have been their interim student leader - so we have had a close relationship for a few years now. From time to time they like to come over and spend the night with their "adult friend" as they like to call me. They told me about three weeks ago to put the weekend of July 11-12 on my calendar for them - so I did. We went to Wing's for dinner (yum), the $1 movie to see Made of Honor (good movie btw) and went to Krispy Kreme for a late night snack. On the way out - we picked up Krispy Kreme hats and wore them all the way home. We have dubbed ourselves the Krispy Kreme Krew - the girls like to call it KKK - but I think that is a little too risky to call ourselves that - don't need to be labeled a hate group. We had a fun night watching reruns of Reba until the "adult friend" had to go to bed - I am too old to stay up till 3:30 AM. I was finished by 1 AM. Fun was had by all and I have some fun photos of the Krispy Kreme Krew to prove it...

Hannah and I

The Krew - Caitlyn, Myself, Haley, Kelsey & Hannah

Updates on Brandon and Ella

This is my new favorite photo of them - so I had to include it in my post. Wouldn't you just love to hear that conversation!

Tracy called me today with some great news! Ella's parents have withdrawn their appeal!!! Her worker will be coming to visit them on Thursday to talk about their next steps i.e. adoption! YAY!

Tracy talked to Brandon's worker as well today and his case goes to the adoption dept on July 29. More great news!! So, hopefully by the end of 2008 we will have two official Handley's!!

Thanks for the prayers!

Beach Trip Part Deux

Well we just returned from our second beach trip of the year and it was fun for all! The trip down with the kids wasn't as bad as the trip in May. I think they are getting used to traveling long distances now. It only rained one day the entire week so that was great. The kids were great with a few melt downs but that was to be expected. My to do list from a previous post is below - lets see how I did shall we...

Hanging out with my family since we are not all together in one place a lot - CHECK
Sleeping late - uh NO - not with two kids in the condo - the latest I slept was like 8:30 - which is later than normal - but not what I had in mind - but that's ok
Sunsets on the beach - CHECK and I have photos!
Seafood - Capt. Anderson's, Angelo's - YES AND NO - no Capt. Anderson's - which made me sad - but we tried - the 2 1/2 hour wait was a little long for us
Doing nothing if I want to - CHECK
Sitting on the balcony with a good book - CHECK AND CHECK! I finished a book I started a month ago and read two more on top of that. I have a new obsession - Karen Kingsbury books - they are great! Thanks Steph and I am sorry I made fun of you all those years!
Sitting on the beach with a good book or my Ipod - CHECK
Sitting by the pool with a good book or my Ipod - NO - the pool never had chairs
Playing with Brandon and Ella in the pool - CHECK
Getting a tan - CHECK
Shopping - CHECK
Eating whatever because I am on vacation - CHECK - no diet cokes for me - only the real stuff Watching Brandon and Ella have fun - CHECK
Playing cards with the fam - no not this time - little boys like to stay up late on vacation
Playing putt putt - CHECK
Riding go-carts - no - we tried but Brandon didn't want to - maybe next year
Taking photos of the kids playing - CHECK - I took over 200 photos - I will only bore you with a few below. If you want to see more - check out my facebook or myspace
Relaxation - CHECK

AND FOR A FEW PHOTOS...

thinking about mawmaw

This time of year my thoughts turn to my grandmother - who we called mawmaw. She passed away on July 1, 2004. Its hard to believe that it has been four years yet, in a lot of ways, it isn't hard to believe. Its seems so long since we saw her. Her death was sudden for our family. She had a heart attack on Monday (the day before her birthday) and passed away on Thursday. That week is not a blur to me, although I thought over time I would forget certain details. I remember most details of that week very well. It was my first real brush with death as an adult. I have always been around death growing up - but when you are an adult - it seems a little different. I actually spoke at the funeral - which was totally out of my comfort zone - but it felt like something I needed to do. I remember the love and support we received from so many, especially our friends. I know that shouldn't have surprised us - but it did. It showed us how loved we were and it meant so very much to us.

While we try not to be sad because we know she is in a better place, there will always be that void in our hearts for her. There will always be regrets of, "I wish I had spent more time with her" and "I wished I would have asked her more questions about her life". But, since I cannot go back, I press forward and remember the things she did teach me and remember how much she loved us and how much we loved her. So, in honor of mawmaw - I thought I would list some of things I miss the most about her.

• Christmas isn't the same without her. She isn't running around with her jingle bell around her neck (today I display it proudly in my house during Christmas).
• Trying to get our names right. She would call us every grand daughter's name until she got the right one: Tracy, Tammy, I mean Gina.
• Calling her on the phone and hearing her say, "hey love!".
• Calling her on the phone and laughing after she hung up because she never said bye. When she was finished talking she wrapped it up and hung up.
• Playing dominoes with her or solitaire.
• Watching her open gifts - she was like a kid. She would always say "awwww", or "that is too much - you shouldn't have".
• Watching the Parent Trap with her - she watched it everyday - no kidding everyday!
• I miss hearing her stories. She talked and talked and talked and talked some more. We used to wish she would be quiet. Now, I wish I could hear those long stories again.
• The stacks and stacks of everything! She didn't throw ANYTHING away. After she died we found bills, clothes, magazines and books from the 60's.
• Hearing her slip a cuss word out. She wasn't a cusser - but you would occasionally hear her let one out and it was so funny.
• Her love for red birds. She had them everywhere. And every time I see one today - I think of her.
• Her fanny pack that she still wore proudly.
• Her silver shoes - which would be in style today.
• Her coolots (long shorts).
• Her love for cats and dogs. She loved her animals.
• The buttercups that grew in her front yard.
• The cards she sent to people. She had boxes and boxes of cards. She never missed a birthday, anniversary or a hospital stay.
• Her laugh

I could go on and on...but will stop here. Mawmaw - you are missed and loved today more than ever!!