My Testimony - What happens from tragedy?

We all have a testimony. One of the beautiful things about life is that we'll have many testimonies in many different areas before we die. As a Christian woman, the most important testimony I have in my life, is when I gave my life to Jesus Christ. However, what ended up being the most important decision in my life, started in tragedy.

June 24, 1993 was a beautiful day. The weather was just beginning to admit it was summer time, my husband and I were getting ready to celebrate our 1 year anniversary in about a month, and my brother and I had just thrown a successful 25th anniversary party for my parents 3 days before. It also was a bitter day. The week before my Grandpa had passed away, and so on this beautiful morning, we were also going to be holding the funeral service for him. My brother didn't come.

After the memorial, we gathered with some of of the family, and got back home that evening around 8:30. About an hour later is when the phone call came. It was my Dad...my brother had been in a car accident and was at RVMC...they didn't know if he was going to make it. We spent the night and the next day in the waiting room waiting for any sign of improvement. I would go in and see him and my hopes would get up because his skin looked flushed. They explained that was because he was on life support, and his temperature was being controlled. A day and a half later, on June 26, he was taken off life support, and died...He was 23.

Over the next few months I began contimplating what happens to you after you die. I had gone to church when I was younger, but had since completely walked away from the Lord. I knew enough to know if I was to die right then, I would go to hell, and that got me thinking. During the same time we had a couple who we were friends with and in business with, who had been inviting us to church and talking to us about how we would never be truly successful until we put God first in our life. They had been talking to us for over a year, but now I was starting to listen. Not because I wanted to be more successful, but because I was worried about dying and not being right with the Lord.

It took 6 months, but in January of 1994 we went to church, at Joy Christian Fellowship, with our friends, and committed our life to Jesus Christ. Since then, we have never looked back! God can use any situation for His glory, even tragedies. The Bible says that what the devil meant for bad, God can turn into good. Though I wish with all my heart, my brother was still here, I see his daughter, Kara, serving God with all her heart, and know that in a way he still is!

Comments are appreciated.

One of My Most Sentimental Moments

I'm finding with this blog that I can go from one end of the spectrum to another. Meaning, I can write about shopping, embarassing moments, birthdays, and now today a more sentimental moment in my life. Maybe I should change the name from Krista's Corner to Krista's Life, which would probably be more accurate.

When I was pregnant with my fourth child (Anna), I started having unexpected complications towards the last few weeks. My blood pressure was very high and the doctor's ended up putting me on bed rest. Which, by the way, is not easy when you have 3 other children. Now towards the beginning of my pregnancy a mission trip was planned to Bogota and my husband was on it. He was going to be back a couple weeks before my due date, and I had never been early, so I was not worried about him going.

Four days after he left I started having some numbing and tingling in my legs, and my blood pressure was still very high so I went in to have some blood work done. The next morning, as I was watching my old favorite TV show "The Price is Right" (oh yeh!), I got a call from my doctor telling me to pack my bags and come in asap. They were going to induce me that day! Well I immediately began to cry and try to explain to him that my husband was out of the country for 5 more days, and please oh please couldn't we wait. Apparently the situation was pretty serious because he wasn't budging.

That e-mail to Sean was probably one of the hardest I've ever had to write. He was going to miss the birth of his daughter. I went to the hospital, things were so sereal...although I had a wonderful support system with my family and friends, I would be lying to say I wasn't devastated. I finally gained control and calmed down when the phone rang in the hospital room...it was Sean. I of course, lost it again.

Throughout that day and night, he was with me. Maybe not physically next to me, but he was with me on the phone, and was a part of everything. When Anna was born at 11:15 pm on Nov.19, 2004 he heard her first cry. I layed the phone on her body and he prayed over her - just as he had done with the other 3. It was a moment I'll never forget. Even writing this I can still feel the emotion.

We sent pictures of her through the e-mail, and I'll always remember how he told me, "she's beautiful, I love her, but I can't wait to hold her." And that makes me think of our heavenly Father when we are not with him. He thinks we're beautiful, and loves us, and can't wait to hold us.

One of my Amazing Talents

As some of you may know I have an incredible, amazing, awesomely, outstanding gift. It is the gift to remember your birthday. Now I say this, and it might backfire, because someone will undoubtedly ask when their's is and I won't remember. So to make it fair, if you've never told me your birthday, don't expect me to get it right, and don't be offended if I happen to miss it by a couple days here or there.

I personally think that May 9th is the best birthday anyone could ever have. In fact, that happens to be MY birthday. It just sounds cool. May...9th... Which this also happens to only be 48 days away. The only thing I don't really like about my birthday is it is always in the same week as Mother's Day, and I kinda think that's a rip off. I do get spoiled though...I have an amazing husband and kids who love me.

So, test me and see how I do. It just sounds fun to do today.

Embarrassing Moments Part 2

It seems to me that some of my most embarrassing moments include falling. Either that or saying or doing stupid things when someone scares me or is being sarcastic. I am horrible at comebacks, so I just get weird. The time I remember the most is when Aaron Martinez was parked in the parking lot at church and I walked in front of him. He thought he would scare me, so he honked his horn right as I am walking in front of him. So, I did what anybody would do, and had a brilliant comeback. I gave him two thumbs up, a dorky smile/laugh and walked away!!!



The fall happened this last Christmas Eve in Rays Market. Yes, one of the busiest days of the year, when people are everywhere getting their last minute things. I was walking around the corner in the Central Point Rays, by the produce, when all of a sudden my shoes slipped on something. I went straight up, then straight down, HARD! My basket I was holding flew out of my hands and my oranges were rolling down the aisle. I of course did the same thing I did on the McAndrews hill...I got up quickly and looked around to see if anyone saw me. Guess what??? They did!!! It was right in front of the checkstands, and the checker lady came running over asking if I was ok. She made sure the floor wasn't wet, and I assurred her it was just my stupid shoes...So all was well and I got my things, went out to my truck, called my husband to tell him what an idiot I was, and was greeted with silence - then hysterical laughter.

Live Life and Laugh Hard...Even if it's at Yourself :)

Embarrassing Moments

I am going to venture away from blogging about shopping for a bit, and see where this goes. This morning I woke up and was feeling a little sad, for no reason at all. Have you ever had one of those days? So as I was sitting here in my living room I started thinking about some of my most embarrassing moments, and it made me laugh. Therefore, I thought, why not share a couple with the world??? To many people are too embarrassed to share their stories, but not me, maybe that just makes me crazy :)

Ok, number 1...ROLLERBLADING DOWN MC ANDREWS HILL...

It was a beautiful afternoon and my husband and I had gotten into roller blading. We lived over by North Medford High School and I was going to visit him where he was working at my Aunt's Store on Central Ave. So I put on my purple and green blades and headed out. I decided to go a faster way this time, not thinking much about it, I headed towards Mc Andrews St. Now for those of you who have been over that way before, you know that it is pretty steep, especially after you pass the Nazarene Church. So I'm feeling pretty cool, right...I got my blades on, I'm exercising, it's beautiful outside, and life is good.....Then I started going down the hill. I quickly notice that I am picking up speed at an accelerated rate and my knees are beginning to wobble. So picture with me if you will, I am flying down the hill on a sidewalk none the less, there are cars passing by me on one side, bushes on the other, and the sidewalk is coming to an end shortly. As fast as my body is going down the hill is about as fast as my mind is racing...."I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die" when lo and behold an office space appears past the bushes and a single small patch of grass. So, like a gymnast flys through the air, I throw myself into the biggest dive roll of my life and safely tumble three or four times into that haven. Of course I knocked the wind out of myself, but quickly got up, looked to see if any of the dozens of cars driving by saw me, and continued on my way to my Aunt's store.

What would you think if you were in one of those cars?

Stay tuned for #2 tomorrow.

I DID IT!!!

WOW :) I am very excited, this morning because I accomplished my goal! On Feb. 16, my friend Lucille took me to Food 4 Less with my $400.00 budget, and showed me how to only have to grocery shop once a month! This did not include my budget of $100 I have for cleaning supplies, etc. which we do at Costco. I was shopping for a family of 6 and full time daycare. When she first talked to me about it I thought, "this is crazy, there's no way I could do that." I was used to spending at least $500 - $600 on a good month, and that was after I cut way back, and my husband was doing the shopping. Read my first blog (Is it possible to shop once a month?) for more details.


For the first few weeks it was easy because there was alot of food in the house. By the end of the month it got a bit harder, because I had to be creative with what I had. The biggest thing I learned this month is that you have to pre plan, ration, use leftovers, and not get stuck in a rut where you make the same thing all the time. It literally is a new way of thinking for me.


On my first trip last month I went $9.00 over my food budget, and last night when I went shopping for this month I was $15.00 under!!! That includes a birthday and Easter. Pretty proud of my self, and I think Lucille would be too :)


I will continue blogging, not necessarily every day or just about food and shopping, although there will be a place for that also. I hope when you see a post pop up for Krista's Corner, you'll click on it, and see what the heck I'm up to next!

Food 4 Less One Month Shopping List

This is the original list that I used to get groceries on Feb. 16th. Since then, the only thing I have picked up was 2 gallons of milk. Woo Hoo!

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AePt_ScVkM4gZGQ0NHo1ajJfMTRmanE1cDdnbQ&hl=en