20 Years!

20 Years ago on this day, Fred and I married.  I remember being scared to death to leave my family.  I took the first job offer I received after college, so that Fred and I could get married quickly.  I didn't have a good feeling about that job, but I took I leap of faith.  Turns out that Fred was the perfect choice, but I was right not to have a good feeling about that job.  

I was 22 years old and had just graduated from UNT.  We had the worst paying jobs ever and lived in the worst apartment ever.  My boss yelled at me everyday for things that weren't even my fault.  He just liked to yell.  However, those days were so much fun!  We were young and always had something fun planned for the weekend.

Over the years, life served up varying degrees of fun and hard times.  Life gave us trials that I would have never imagined we would have been given.  Trials that I would have never imagined we could have survived or would have imagined I could later find the blessings in them.

I am so blessed to have a kind and giving husband that genuinely loves everyone.  He is always willing to jump in and help anyone at a moments notice. I always say that Fred will give you the shirt right off his back.  Oftentimes, I can't find something at our house and it is because Fred gave it away!  He is so sweet like that. 

Just a random thought about Fred... one of my favorite things about Fred is his laugh.  He has the best laugh. I wish that I could download it on my iTunes and listen to it during the day if I am down or sad.  There is nothing that will put me in a good mood like listening to Fred's belly laugh.  

Happy Anniversary, Fred!  It has been a great 20 years!  I can't wait to see what the next 20 years bring.

This One Time at Band Camp

This is Jonathan's first day at band camp!  I am so sad that he is having to attend Independence High School.  It is NOT close to our house, which means he will have to ride the bus back and forth.  I wish he could walk to and from Centennial High School which is right next door.  However, I am super excited about High School band!  He is a Knight!  I am not sure what that kind of mascot that is, but he stoked.  I don't think the Independence Knights sounds nearly as exciting as the Community Braves!  But, their colors are Purple and White (I think) and I really like the color purple.

I can't wait to hear all of the exciting stories he has to tell about his first day at band camp!

Cow Appreciation Day

Did you know that peer pressure exists even at my age?  Boys and girls, you should not let your friends talk you into anything that you don't want to do.  Otherwise, you could end up dressed like a cow trying to get free Chick-fil-a on Cow Appreciation Day.  Now only do you end up dressed like a cow, but you also end up on your company's Facebook page.  Is it really worth the free meal.  For some of us, we simply used the cow kit that Chick-fil-a offers that you can print out.  Others in the group make this day a huge event.  They invest in supplies to make homemade shirts and cute little headbands. To me, investing all this money defeats the purpose of getting a free meal.  However, this is more than a free meal to them.  For me, it is a day where I completely embarrass myself.

Kayak Adventure

After we finished our Sea World fun, we spent Monday, July 7th on the San Marcos River.  We met my Auntie Jan, Uncle Joe and The Palmer's for a fun day of kayaking.

Uncle Joe and Fred

Jonathan is usually a very slow paddler.  He did a great job keeping up with everyone.  There was a stretch where Fred had to hang back with him.  Apparently, I bumped into him and that threw him off his game. Other than that, he was right in the middle of the pack or sometimes ahead of the pack.

Jessie - super kayaker

Jessie was a super star!  She recently kayaked at Girls Camp and canoed on her Senior trip.  You might remember that she didn't do very well a couple of years ago when she and I went tandem.  You can go here to read about our misfortune.  I was very proud of her hard work.  In the very beginning, she got caught in a tree for a second, but other than that she was amazing.

Conner, Corbin and Fred

I personally like to continually stroke and never slow down.  It was hard for me to stay with the pack.  It is a problem that Fred and I have when we kayak together.  I am thankful that I stayed with the group and didn't paddle ahead.  I could have ended up with my Auntie Jan and Uncle Joe.  They missed the take-out point.  Never one to fret, my Auntie Jan just kept paddling until the river ended. We sat at the rental place for over an hour waiting for them to show up.  They finally came riding up in the back of a blue pick-up.  Auntie Jan was waiving - kind of looking like a Redneck beauty queen in her swimsuit and hauling her kayaks.

Tony and Kelly

We did the seven mile trip.  Usually our family sticks with the  five mile, so we don't have haul the kayaks around so much.  The first two miles you are up and out of your kayak more than you are actually in the water.  However, it was fun to add the extra miles with so many people.  I forgot to change out of my flip flops, so I was having problems walking on the wet rocks most of the time.  I was so mad, because I had finally found the perfect water shoe.  I felt like I was useless when it came to hauling my kayak around, because I kept slipping in my shoes.

Uncle Joe, Auntie Jan and Fred

We stopped and played during the first part of our trip.  There were chutes that you could go down.  I lost my glasses (thankfully they floated down and Fred found them).  I was pretty freaked out and determined to stay where I was even though there was no other choice, but to continue down the chutes.  I remember smiling at the kind lady that helped me flag down my group, but I was freaking out on the inside.  This portion of the adventure should just get it its own post.  

Jessie

Despite my adventure on the chutes and losing my Aunt and Uncle on the river, we had a great time.  I would like for Fred to always remember that kayaking was my idea.  Several years ago, I was the one that insisted that we go kayaking and he thought it was a bad idea.  Now, it is Fred's favorite activity.  I was worried about having to paddle around the tubers, but there weren't so many this year.

Jonathan

We were thankful for sweet Corbin and Conner for constantly helping with our kayaks.  Every time I looked up Corbin was at my side helping me.  Jonathan thought Corbin was coolest guy ever.  Jonathan likes most people and can talk to anyone, but there are some people that he just really likes and that was Corbin. Jonathan sat next to Corbin and talked to him ALL weekend.  

I made Jessie, Jonathan, Corbin, Conner, Fred and Tony pose for a picture.  Actually I was making the kids pose and Fred and Tony photobombed the picture.  So, it looks like I left Kelly out.

Cute Kids!

We had a great time on the river and a great time with our fun friends!

Kelly

Sea World Fun

The Fortenberry Three (Jonathan was at EFY in San Antonio) traveled to Austin on July 4th.  We grabbed breakfast at our annual church picnic and began our trek to Auntie Jan's house.  We spent the night there and left Mollie with her Dachshund friend, Josie.  She enjoyed having her own vacation. 

Pick-up time at EFY in San Antonio was at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday.  We were so happy to get our boy back.  He had a great time, but that is a separate post.

After picking up Jonathan, we had breakfast and then met our friends - The Palmer's - and made our way to Sea World.  We spent two days at the park.  We watched lots of great shows and spent time at their water park.  At first, Jessie was humoring us and didn't really want to go.  She had watched Blackfish which is a documentary detailing how Sea World mistreats their animals.  If you have known Jessie since she was a little girl, then you know that Sea World is her most favorite place on earth!  Well, once we got there she lightened up and absolutely enjoyed herself.  She was still concerned, but took in all the shows and enjoyed seeing all of her favorites.  I don't think she enjoyed the orcas as much as she once did due to all the awful things she learned on the documentary.  

Jessie's favorite was the Sea Lions and her second favorite was the dolphins.  Jonathan loved the roller coasters.  He couldn't get enough of them!  Thank goodness for Corbin and Conner. Those sweet boys went a few extra times with him.  I went the first time.  The Steel Eel was right up my alley.  I rode the Great White twice in a row (as in we didn't even have to get back in line).  Thankfully, I didn't have very much in my stomach, because I was quite queasy!

Jonathan, Jessie and myself at the dolphin tank

Bottlenose Dolphin

Jessie being silly

Mama with her baby!

Jessie and Jonathan sitting front row at the Sea Lion show

Sweet little seal (Jessie, Tony and Kelly in the background checking out the sea lions and seals)

Jonathan, Fred and Jessie on the left 

with Corbin and Conner on the right

She Did It!

Our precious girl graduated high school on May 21st.  She graduated from The St. Anthony School which is a private therapeutic school. It is an amazing school with the most wonderful teachers and administrators.  TSAS was an answer to our prayers and I am so happy that we found such a great school for Jess to finish out high school.

Jessie's graduation was attended by Grandma and PawPaw Larry, MaMaw and Grady, the Simmons' family, her friends - Sarah and Morgan, along with her mom, dad and brother.  She had the most attendees and we had to give her the sad news that we couldn't invite our beloved friends, the Garstka's, DiSpigno's and Miller's.  Can you imagine if we had invited everyone?

Jessie gave an awesome speech.  We were all so proud of her.  I know she was nervous, but she did a great job. She talked about the impact that TSAS had on her life and she thanked her family and teachers for their support.  It was really special!

Mr. Nathan, Mr. Tony and Mrs. Debbie presented diplomas to the seven graduates (Jess was the only female senior).  What a gratifying moment for Jess.  We love these three individuals.  They have been so supportive of Jessie.

In addition to diplomas and speeches, there were slide shows showing us the fun that the kids have had this year.  After graduating, the families were served dinner and then there was dancing outside by the gazebo.  They had so much fun!  Attending such a small school didn't allow Jess to have a homecoming or a prom, but her graduation couldn't have been more special and intimate.

We are going to miss TSAS, the students and the amazing staff!  Mr. Nathan was the best teacher ever!  I wish Jonathan could transfer so that he could come and hangout with Mr. Nathan.  I was so frustrated with the public school system.  While we had many great teachers, I was frustrate with many that didn't understand the struggles that my daughter encountered.  I absolutely love every teacher at TSAS and I have never felt frustrated with any aspect of this school!

Congratulations, Jessie!  We are proud of the courage and bravery that you have shown over the last four years.  You have come so far and we are excited to see where life takes you.  We love you.

Happy Independence Day!

We hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July!  As for our family, we are headed to Austin and San Antonio!  We are leaving right this minute (hopefully) for Austin to spend the evening in with my awesome Auntie Jan.  Then we get to pick up our sweet boy from EFY tomorrow and hang out in San Antonio for the weekend.

Enjoy your weekend... And, maybe one day I will post about our adventures!

Missing My Boy

I have been away from this boy a lot this summer!  I spent a week at Girls' Camp with Jess.  Then he spent the next week at High Adventure.  Now, he is at EFY for a week.  I really miss him.  I have received one text from him and it simply read, "I love u."  Not sure if he was really thinking about me or thought he had better check in with Mom before she loses her mind!

Overwhelmed and Can't Seem to Get Started

I have so much to blog about and I am so behind that I don't even know where to start.  I need to sit down and blog about Jessie's graduation, her graduation party (our friend, Debi took 192 pictures) and Girls' Camp.  Jonathan and Fred each went to camp and now Jonathan is at EFY in San Antonio.  We will head out to San Antonio for a little fun on the 4th and come home on the 8th.

I just need to take a little time and start the blogging!  Have you ever been so behind that you are overwhelmed and can't get started?  That's me.  I thought maybe if I took this first step that I'll try to get started tonight.  We'll see...