Hey everyone!

Sorry for the delay in an update. Things have been busy! God has been good and given me incredible time management, though! ( : God has also been good with Mike’s mono. He is feeling better, and he’s even got a little itty bitty bit of an appetite back. He was able to go to a study session tonight. We’ll see how he feels after his classes tomorrow.

This weekend we were able to visit with Mom and Dad Goodwin. It was great to have them up here, even though it was a short visit. We hear that Megs is not feeling too hot, so make sure to pray for her! Mom and Dad helped me fix my disaster of a yard. They cut down weeds and overgrown perennials. It didn’t help my terrible mowing job, though! Yikes! You guys, it’s so embarrassing! There are huge patches of grass that I completely missed… Hee hee hee… I didn’t space my rows correctly, so there are lines of un-cut grass… Oh man, it’s so bad.

Anyway, it definitely looks A LOT better after the help of the weed whacker (I think Bob had a little too much fun with that! Hee hee hee…) and the weeding. I think that’s about the gist of our recent movements. Let us know if you need anything.

We send lots and lots of love to all!

Hey everyone,

Thank you for your continued prayers. Mike went to his classes today, and he seems like he did pretty well considering the circumstances. He went to bed really early tonight, so I think it wore him out. I took him to class, using my lunch hour, then my brother, Kyle, took him home from campus. ***Thanks for your help, Kyle!***

Mike still isn’t eating much, but he seems to have a bit more energy today. He actually yelled at Peyton this evening, so that’s a good sign. Peyton’s been quite a handful. I think he notices that Daddy doesn’t feel good, so he tried to cuddle up to Mike, but it really bugs Mike. I try to keep Peyton away from Mike, but I’ve got a lot on my hands right now. Peyton slips by sometimes and gets on Mike. That’s when he gets frustrated. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a good full day of rest for Mike. He’s also got the entire weekend to rest!

He’s at the 1 1/2 week mark of symptoms, so we’ve still got a bit ahead of us. I’m hoping that this good, focused rest will help him recover QUICKLY! ( : I miss his hugs and kisses.

Thanks again for your prayers, guys. Would you mind doing me a favor and praying for my classes, as well? They are certainly quite a bit more than I bargained for.

Thanks! We love you all!

Hey everyone! I realized last night that I had updated you all about the general things, but not specifically about Mike. He’s still pretty puny and all-around boring, but he’s getting lots of good rest. As for his schooling, he’s had the chance to talk with all of his professors, and they seem pretty understanding. They’ve given him a week to just rest…no teaching, no tutoring, no nothing. They also removed him as the TA for the class he was teaching. After this week of rest, they’ll re-assess how he’s feeling and what he can do. They’re hoping he’ll feel well enough to work in the Chemistry Resource Room, where he worked last year. It’s kind of like a big tutoring room, where the chem students can get help. If they can’t use him there, they’ll try to set up some office work for him to do. He’ll get to keep his monetary fellowship, and hopefully by working in the Resource Room or doing office work, he’ll get to keep his TA stipend, also.

He doesn’t have much of an appetite at all. He’s eating less than a 1/4 of the food that he normally eats, and I have to force that down his throat. Last night, he said he’s glad his wife is a good cook, otherwise, he’d hate eating right now. ( : That made me feel good. I love him so much.

If you guys have any questions, feel free to shoot us an e-mail or leave us a comment, and we’ll keep you updated as much as we can.

We love you! Keep praying for Mike.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STEPHANIE! WE LOVE YOU!

Lindsay says,

Okay, that was a really long title, but could I please just sing the praises of our Lord and Savior a little more?

God, you are the:
Alpha and Omega
Almighty
Big Man on Campus
One in Charge
One who chooses to BLESS in spite of our narrow-minded pessimism (sp?)
Rock, especially when my earthly pebble is sick
so good
so good
so good
so good.

Okay, seriously guys, how in the world is it that God can be sooo good even when we’re SO unworthy? Thank you so much for your prayers. Do you want to know how God answered them (in less than 24 hours?????) Here’s the summary:

My check engine light isn’t on anymore. I called the dealership here in town, and they said that the new Chevys have a function that makes their check engine light come on when it’s time for a normal maintenance check. It happens at certain milage points. My car was right on the mileage point, so they were pretty certain that was the deal. They said if it comes on again or if I hear any noises to come in. PRAISE GOD! It was just a little reminder thingy! No car problems!

Then, I petitioned the textbook company to let me use the textbook through the end of this semester, since I haven’t used it at all since I bought it. Guess what! They wrote back and said they have extended my subscription until January 30th, so I can use it this semester. How cool is that??? Textbook companies are never merciful or helpful. Can I give a big thumbs up to Pearson Education? While we’re at it, how about a few more high fives for the Big Man Upstairs? Apparently he even cares about a $40.00 textbook!

Also, I cleaned the entire kitchen last night, and it is sparkling! Tonight, I have to do a lot of homework and bank training. Tomorrow is my half-day, since I have to work Saturday. I’m going to do laundry during that time. Then, it will be Wednesday evening, and we’ll be all caught up with housework! I’ll take Thursday evening to focus on deep cleaning, so I can get rid of any Mono germs and so it’ll be a more restful and relaxing environment for my love.

So, anyway, I just wanted to thank you all SO MUCH for your prayers and well-wishes. God is so good, and I’m so thankful for faithful intercessors who love us.

Have a great night, everyone! We love you so much. (I’ll post a sicky picture of Mike soon…hee hee hee…I’ve gotta get some enjoyment out of this!)

Ha ha ha, get it! Mono means one, but this is the second entry about the topic “Mono”??? LOL…okay, well, maybe it’s not that funny, but around this house, any humor is welcome!

So, Mike has mono. Do you know how much this sucks? Pretty darn bad. You wanna know why? Because Mike normally does almost all of the housework. Seriously! He has a lot more time off. I’m working an average of 45 hours a week and taking 6 hours of classes. I don’t really have much time to take care of the house. I’ve got to, though. I guess maybe this will make me a better wife.

My only worry is that I’m gonna get mono. I don’t feel sick or tired at all, so that’s a really good sign. My work is very busy…very, very busy. Here is just a glimpse of how busy work is right now:

On a normal Monday, we process about 10 night drop bags, 90 transactions, and about $20,000 per teller. Today, I did 43 night drop bags, 312 transactions, and over $100,000 passed through my drawer today. On top of the increased workload, I’m in charge of leading my branch through our conversion process. This week there are a lot of training hours that need to be completed, and I’m having a hard time motivating my co-workers. Also, I’ve got eight hours of training to complete myself. Lastly, I’m taking two classes, and they’re not turning out to be as easy as I thought they were going to be.

One last prayer request: My subscription to that book expires August 30th. I petitioned the company to extend my subscription, since I haven’t ever used the book since I bought it. Please pray that they have mercy on me and allow me to use the online text until December.

I hope this doesn’t sound too downtrodden. I’m really doing okay. Writing it all out makes me feel better somehow. My mom has also been really great. She offered to come up each weekend and pick up the house and cook and freeze dinners for us for the week, and all that stuff. I’m really blessed. Praise God for the blessings He pours on us!

Oh, yeah, last prayer request: The “Check Engine” light on my car is lit up. I think that’s probably a bad thing. Pray that it’s something really simple (and cheap!)

( : Thanks guys! Love you so much!

As some of you know I have been feeling like crap lately. My body has been extremely fatigued and my lymph nodes have been swollen. So, I went to PUSH (Purdue University Student Health center) to see a doctor. He said my symptoms sounded like mono to him, so he had a blood test run. And of course it came back freaking positive! Doesn’t that suck?! Especially since school started today. The only worse situation would be if Lindsay got it from me. Right now is a very hectic time at her work and she can ill afford to be tired and weak.

Please pray for Lindsay’s work and health. I love her dearly and don’t want her to have that stress in her life. Maybe God can keep her away from my nasty mono germs or give her much milder symptoms than me.

Should we have a party? Leave a comment, if you want an invitation!

P.S. Kyle is moving in tomorrow! WAHOO WAHOO WAHOO WAHOO WAHOO WAHOO!!!!!!!

I love my bubby!

So…I’m taking two classes online this semester to finish up my degree. I didn’t think I’d have to buy any books (I guess I just figured all of the material would be online.) So, I got my info to start my English class today, and it said I needed a book. Well, it just so happens that the book I need is the book that was assigned for this course when I signed up to take it Fall ‘04. It’s an online book, and you have to buy a username and password. I bought the book/username and password in the Fall of ‘04. When I decided to not to take the course, I was really disappointed, because I was stuck with the username and password (you can’t return it, obviously.) Well, now, I realized that it would be really cool if I could use that username, but I was pretty sure it was expired, since it’s a full year old.

I went ahead and clicked on the “Forgot My Password” link and put in my e-mail address. Guess what??? IT STILL WORKS! The usernames don’t expire!!! We don’t have to pay for the book a second time. SOOOOOOO awesome!

( : Just thought I’d share…

Praise God with me, because He is so good in all things. If there are things I can be praying for you about (big or tiny), let me know! Love to you all!

We made a quick trip to Terre Haute this weekend to get Peyton a new cage so that he can’t keep doing his Houdini impersonation. Winnie took Peyon’s little cage, and we took her mammoth cage for Peyton. It has a nice heavy metal bottom so Peyton won’t be able to flip it over, or he’ll at least hurt himself really bad in trying ( : Here’s what it looks like:

We also picked up the autographed Peyton Manning picture. We were very impressed with how it turned out:

Hopefully we’ll get to make a trip down to Indianapolis to see Mike’s family soon. We miss them.