And Then There Were 3

it saddens me greatly to have to report that sophie returned to her foster mom sue. bless poor sophie's heart, she had such a rough beginning and seems to be having trouble getting past the anxiety caused by her beginnings. i could go through the issues we had with sophie, but the heart of the matter is that were never able to overcome her trust issues. while it is important to shane and i that our home remains a peaceful one, it was just as important, if not more important that sophie feel safe and comfortable, which she obviously didn't with us. even though letting her go was difficult, i am so at peace with the fact that she is back with sue. sue is an amazing individual that shane and i have had the pleasure of getting to know through this process. even though she is an alabama fan (which we are finding it in our hearts to forgive her for), she is truly an amazing spirit. she has such a love for animals and she was so wonderful about our returning sophie. so many organizations make you feel like you are a horrible person if you return an animal. sue made me feel so at ease and was so understanding that like many human relationships, sometime the chemistry is not right, or the timing is off. i'm just very thankful for sue and she has promised to keep in touch with us with regards to sophie so i will keep all of you up to date as well.

so...that leaves just us three. we really enjoyed being a family of 4 for however brief the time period was. for now the 3 musketeers will spend time being thankful for each blessed moment together and will always be sending out happy prayers and thoughts for our precious sophie, hoping and praying that she will be relieved of the issues that plague her. find peace little one, there's no need to be afraid anymore.

peace and love.

And Sophie makes 4

shane and i are proud to announce the new addition to our family...a beautiful new baby girl...dog. sorry for those of you who were hoping for something a little more human like. yes, shane and i decided to get another puppy. sophie is a 9 month old moutain cur, whippet mix. we found her on petfinder.com (a website everyone looking for a dog should check out) and she seemed perfect for our family. sue from the C.A.A.W.A, whom we love by the way, was gracious enough to bring her down to see if she would work for us. while sophie hasn't immediately warmed up to shane and i, she and milly have become fast friends and that is what is truly important. so thank you sue and C.A.A.W.A. for bringing us our newest family member. we promise to give her more love than you could imagine!! here are some pictures of our girls!

peace and love.

Oh Captain, My Captain

this saturday shane and i went to atlanta to celebrate his grandfather's 92nd birthday as well as his twin sister's 31st birthdays! it was so good to see his family. the family calls shane's grandfather captain, i'm assuming because of his service in the war and in the civil air patrol. funny...i've never really asked an explanation for that. guess i should. we also had the pleasure of seeing shane's dad who lives in cape coral, florida (no, we're not jealous at all) and whom we don't get to see that often. it truly was a special time to be with everyone.

shane's whole family is really special to me. i am so thankful that God has blessed me with such a wonderful 2nd family. truly, i could not have asked for a more Godly and loving family to become a part of. captain, especially, has really filled a void in my life. my mother's father, whom i adored and still do to this day, passed away when i was in middle school and my father's father is still alive, but i don't have much interaction. captain has become the missing patriarch in my life and i will forever be thankful to him for being such an openly loving, christian example to my husband and to me. shane is a better man because of captain and i know i'm a better person just for knowing captain much less being loved by him. i have personally seen the influence captain has had on his family and many, many other individuals he has crossed paths with. i hope he knows the difference he has made in so many lives. i've often wondered where he hides his wings.

enjoy the pictures and be blessed...i sure am!!

peace and love.

Martin vs. Martin '08

the week of trash talking finally came to an end last friday night as martin vs. martin '08 ended in yet another hoover buc victory. the patriots did, however, make the first touchdown and held their own against the hoover bucs for most of the game.

while it's true there was football being played in the stadium that night, we all know where the true competition was going on...the sidelines!! martin's patriot cheerleaders went head to head against martin's buc cheerleaders that friday night. heal stretches were being fulled down from, pyramids formed from out of no where, and pom pons were flying everywhere in this mother of all cheerleading show downs. who emerged the victor? well...as in any war is there ever truly a victor? both the martins decided to call a cease fire against the squads and sealed the deal with a kiss right there on the sidelines. to further show a measure of good will, both the coaches gave t-shirts to each member of both squads. the front of the shirt listed the two teams playing and the date. the back read..."it's all about the cheerleaders. brought to you by martin, inc." both squads seemed to like their conciliation prizes. fortunately, this event has been documented for the history books.

since martin vs. martin '08 has come to a close, life on marka street has returned to its more peaceful state. here's to martin vs. martin '09.

peace and love

Labor Day Moments

hello friends! this labor day weekend has brought some much rest for the martin family. i have been sick with a cold and shane has been running ragged so it was so good to just slow down and take time to enjoy each other. we spent most of saturday sleeping and sunday was a great day filled with church and lunch with some great people from church. sunday night was a really great time for us. we spent time enjoying the world of rhapsody.com where you can download different songs from the internet. it's amazing after 10 years of knowing each other, 4 of those being married, there are still things you learn about your spouse. shane introduced me to his fiery passion for the likes of muddy waters and other blues artists. i knew shane loved the blues, but i didn't know how educated he was on the topic. i in turn introduced him to the gloriousness that is van morrison and truly opened up about my closeted love for neil diamond. yes...i said neil diamond, what of it?? then, of course, we shared some moments and truly bad vocal renditions of songs we enjoyed from our childhoods like music from johnny cash, conway twitty and even a little buffett. shane about fell out of his chair at my vocal stylings of juice newton's "angel of the morning." by the way, isn't it totally inappropriate that i know that song now, not to mention from when i was a wee lass?? this evening we went outside with milly and shane taught me how to play lawn darts. i didn't know there was such a thing, but i have since been enlightened and very badly beaten. i am currently plotting my revenge. anyway, it's moments like those that i will remember forever. for me it's not always the big, elaborate moments in life that are the most special. it's the smaller ones like sharing your favorite tunes (very badly i must say) or being demolished in lawn darts by the one you love that makes life truly special. i hope your labor day weekend was filled with moments like mine.

peace and love.