MarksvilleandMe

Not sure if everyone knows that I have other blogs here or not but in case you are interested you can . find them over at MarksvilleandMe. I will try and work on adding page tabs to the top here so it will be easier for my readers to see everything I have on the internet but until then you can see everything I have by visiting MarksvilleandMe which has all of the tabs to my blogs. Thank you again for your support throughout the years.

Financial Melt Down in Marksville

Shortly after my last post things seemed to all fall apart.  My husband's checks were missing from the post office as were mine, which caused a snowball effect since most of our bills are automatic payments which come out of our account it went bad real fast. Just days before this happened, I was driving our van with our girls inside and the breaks just stopped working. I took it right away to the repair shop and they fixed it and got me on my way of course I wrote a check knowing our money would be in the bank that Monday. Yep it wasn't there, this is when the checks were missing. Big mess. Now on top of all of that our rent was late, and I mean really late.

Then I noticed that my husband's unemployment had not been deposited for a few weeks and that made things even worse. Our financial outlook was in the dumps really bad, we saw red everywhere with no black in site.

The rest of November and most of December we were in a state of panic to pay the landlord, the car repair shop, our other bills, keep food on the table, and of course get a few gifts for my oldest two children as well as my  mother-in-law. Everyone else was taken care of and Dennis and I can always wait till Birthday time to spoil ourselves a bit, but it was just weighing heavy on everyone including our children.

During this time we fought a bit more then I would like to admit, but thankfully we are a big family and we helped each other get through the yelling, tears, and frustration. Money started to roll in again and we were able to pay almost everything off except our landlord. We still have one more set of checks this month which will go to pay our landlord and our telephone/internet bill. Then we will be pretty much back on track.

We are still awaiting my husband's gas reimbursement from his insurance company which was received by them the first week of September. They assure us they are working on it. The last time we sent one in, it only took them 15 days to get it done. We have a whole bunch more to give them but won't until they cut the last check. I am thankful that his lawyer and his insurance company have been so good to him while he is injured but sometimes even we get a bit impatient.

I will get to how Christmas was later but wanted you to know that God blessed us and all worked out, we made it through a rough time. Thankfully we didn't have to borrow from anyone. God knows we do not like to owe anyone anything. I know the few people we do owe. That list consists of two people, wonderful friends how helped us out in our time of need who I keep putting on the back burner. We also came up with plans to safe guard as much as possible in case this should happen again, of course after we get back on track fully from this mess first. It does pay to prepare and thankfully my couponing and stockpiling sure were a great help during this time. I am ever thankful for God giving me the means to be able to do this for our family. Time and again it has shown it's worth.

Autumn Photos in Marksville

Even though we took these a few weeks ago I thought my readers might want to see the pictures we took. My husband is not present as he couldn't walk as far as we had for the pictures. Also missing are my sons Buke, Bryan, and my daughter Samantha. With a busy family it is rare we can get everyone together for photos so these will just have to do.

Dennise, Deanna, Dorothy, and my grand daughter Lilly.

My grand daughterLilly

Dorothy, Deanna, Lilly, and Dennise

Deanna

Dorothy, Deanna, and Lilly skipping.

Dorothy, Lilly, and Deanna running.

Dorothy just hanging around.

Dennise taking some time for a self portrait.

Lilly and Mama (Me)

Dorothy and Lilly

As you can see not all pictures come out great but look at these faces. 

At least in this one they were all looking in the same direction just not the cameras.

Deanna and Dorothy

Dorothy pretending to be a Turkey

Dennise and I

Our first time using the timing feature but here we all are. 

I think this came out really well.

Dennise said hey mom and I looked back at her.

Hope you enjoyed our Autumn Pictures.

Back on my feet again.

Almost a month has gone by and there has been so much that has happened. I guess I will start with first and foremost, then work from there.

I have been battling severe pain under my ribs on the right side in on my back for over 4 weeks. I tried heat, resting, and working through it. Nothing worked and it was getting worse so yesterday I broke down and went to the Dr.

Thankfully it is not my kidneys which already have damage from when I was younger, but I do have a big knot near my spine in the back that will not loosen and has been causing all of the pain. My Dr. ordered muscle relaxers and said if after a week I am not showing improvement then I will start physical therapy. So as I am writing this I have a heating pad on my back and trying to take it easy.

I took the muscle relaxers yesterday afternoon and they made me really drowsy, then another before I went to bed. I know I made it into bed but other then that I must have been out really fast because the next thing I know the kids were getting ready for school and arguing about something to do with shoes. I fell back to sleep and the next time I looked up it was 9:41 and 10:10 before I was up and out of bed.

So here I am trying to catch up on everything with my blogs that I was doing minimal work on for the last month, and we won't even go into how backed up my email is. I am just thankful that I am still alive and well, being able to be here for my family. God is good.

23rd & 24th Anniversary

So here we are 23 years into marriage and 24 years dating. Together Dennis Marks Jr. and I have 6 children Buke (Dennis Marks III), Samantha Marks, Bryan Graham, Dennise Alana Marks, Deanna Marks, and Dorothy Marks. We thank God each day for everyone of them, and the time God has allotted us together. Over the years we have climbed over many mountains while overcoming many obstacles along the way.

Shortly after this year started I was diagnosed with Fibromylagia, and then Dennis had an accident at work which has kept him out of work. Dennis is used to being in charge and for the first time he had to depend on everyone around him. How quickly we learn just who cares. He is slowly healing, just not as fast as he would have hoped. Through it all God has moved in our lives and has provided for us the whole time.

We are blessed to have our grand daughter Lillyann who we love with all of our hearts as well as her sister Alaina Faith who is due in February. We also welcome in our Daughter-in-law to be Taylor Simmons who will be married to our son in the spring of 2014. Our dreams have come true through our children.

When we first thought about our lives together we envisioned 6 children, grand children, and even great grand children, filled with many years of laughter and love along the way. Of course we have had days of sorrow, loss, anger and even days when we were ready to throw in the towel, but the Taurus in both of us wouldn't let it happen.

Yes 24 years later and he still tries to lick my face.

People have asked us how we do it. First of all we have always taken time for date night. Over the years the kids have realized that these days are important not only for us but also for the family. We have had date nights were we didn't have any money to times where we could splurge and everyone of them is just as important as any other. We are able to take time for each other and also talk about things we would like to do or see happen in the future.

Second we try to keep things light. When most people would be worried about things, we laugh over them, or find something to laugh about during the situation. See Dennis is very Pessimistic while I on the other hand am very optimistic. Like I said we are both Taurus's so we tend to butt heads a lot but when all is said and done we usually end up somewhere in the middle, on common ground if you will.

About half way into our marriage my prayers to God finally worked out and Dennis my husband was saved. It took the passing of my father and many years in between of going to church on and off for God to work all things out, but it did happen. I do caution though to be careful for what you pray for, and try to talk to your spouse about what they might be praying for.

About 6 years ago I was praying for patience and Dennis happened to be too, we did not know until everything was over with, but we ended up being homeless. We moved from our trailer to a house so our kids would have more room and soon after I became ill and had to stop working my better paying job. Actually I only kept the other job because we needed the money to make rent, and the Dr. agreed as long as I had something to sit on he would allow me to work. Shortly after this we are told we had to vacate the house, that the landlords had not payed their mortgage, that they were not suppose to be renting the house out, and that they couldn't be found. We learned patience really well over the next 3 months. Being pregnant, working full time, and trying to care for 5 kids with no place to stay was not fun at all. Dennis slept on the cement landing outside of his job while I slept in the car with the kids. We did the best we could till we ended up where we are now. Patience is something we both now have.

The beginning of this year I started to pray for my husband and again unknown to me he was also praying for himself. Shortly after he had the accident at work which has like I said caused him to not be able to work. Even though we didn't want to go through either of the above things in our lives we have learned so much along the way. It doesn't make us perfect, but through it all we have gained more then lost, which has strengthened our marriage that much more.

Each day we learn about each other, and yes even 24 years later we are still learning about each other. We have cried together, laughed together, gotten angry together, and yes even made mistakes together, but the one thing we have always had is each other, and of course God's every lasting patience and guidance through it all. We have more yet to learn and are a little excited to see what the years ahead have to to offer.

Dennis is not only my husband he is my best friend, over the years we have confided the depths of our hearts to each other, and even when we haven't agreed with each other, we have always found that in the end it always strengthens our tie to each other. Marriage takes a lot of love, faith, hope, patience, compromising, and holding on when all others would love to see you fail.  I am very blessed with my husband and my children. I love them all.

In closing I will say what my parents said to me. "Choose right the first time"

First week of school here in Marksville

Here are my last three girls ready for school. Dennise who is in 11th, Deanna who is in 5th and Dorothy who is in 1st this year. as you can see they were up and ready with bells on this year. Last year they missed the bus because the alarm clocks were not set, and we never got the first day of school pictures.

Dorothy needed a bigger book bag so we splurged and bought her one from Pottery Barn that she liked and had our last name printed on it. We would have had Marksville but they only go up to 9 characters. As you can see she is more then ready to get out the door and on the bus.

Of course I have to take the funny face pictures so here they all are again.

 Deanna is ready to go as well. She was all about the cowboy boots this year. She too got a new book bag, but only because it wasn't the right size for Dennise, but she loved it so we kept it. Hers too says our last name on the back. 

Now the picture I took of Dennise by herself on the first didn't come out well and the bus was outside so she snapped a picture of herself the second day before going out to the bus. The most exciting thing that happened on her first day was a massive nose bleed caused by our blood disorder. She freaked some of the teachers out, while scaring other half to death, and the high school nurse was overwhelmed with the nose bleed so she called the elementary nurse to come and take care of it. Luckily the elementary nurse worked in another school system where this sort of blood disease is well known, so after a call home to make sure they were doing everything they needed for her, everything was fine. I am just a bit upset that the high school nurse was unable or unwilling to be able to take care of a nose bleed, what will she do if it something worse comes along? Anyways Dennise made it through the rest of the day just fine and we were all thankful her cousin Teasha helped her out a bit when it started.

Here it is the night before the first full week of school, and I am just getting this up. The kids started last Thursday with High school pictures being on Friday. Friday I took Dennis to pick up the new machine for his leg, an even though his company pays for it they put the receipt in the box. Just under $1,400. I can't say this enough but I am so thankful to God my husband did this damage to his leg at work because I have no idea how someone who doesn't have insurance for this kind of accident could ever afford to keep there bills paid on top of being able to afford the care they need to heal correctly. 

Yesterday Samantha and Lilly moved back home officially. Things might still work out between David and Samantha but not under his parents roof right now, they need time away from each other. Samantha is going to save up to move out into her own place again but as for now she is home again.  

Today was the start of Soccer for both Deanna and Dorothy. I didn't take pictures this week but rest assured next week you are in for a treat. Both girls kept the same coaches they had last year which is awesome. Next week Daisies start up again for Dorothy and until Dennise joins anything at school that is about it for us, which will keep us busy enough for a while. 

As you can tell there is always something going on in Marksville, so you never know what tomorrow will bring.

Prayers for my cousin Mary and her husband Maurice

I realized after my last post I didn't tell you about my visit with my cousin Mary and her husband Maurice when they came to visit from Canada. I am just glad they were able to make another trip down this close to their last trip since I missed out that time. We talked for hours and had a good time, she was even able to meet one of my brothers for the first time.

I would like to ask for prayers for Mary as she is having a bit of a bleeding problem which she was telling me about while she was visiting. Her Dr. had said it was normal and then after she was home for a few days she ended up in the hospital and they confirmed that it was not normal they did some tests, and are going in to take a biopsy, then depending on what they can get out or find they may have to go back in for more surgery. Also a prayer for her husband as he also has surgery planned this month, which means a lot on both of their plates since our family is here in the US, and Maurice just lost his mother a few months back.

From left to right you have Maurice, Mary, me, Dennis and Deanna in the front. Dorothy was busy playing with the neighbors and Dennise took the picture for us. This also happened to be my mother's birthday which was August 25th, so having family near made it that much more special.