I'd be lying...

Well, since my last post my head has just been in a complete whirlwind. This post will just be words, hopefully the next post can have some pictures.

I would be lying to you if I told you that my life in the past couple of months has been easy. It's been hard. Aside from the year 2004, this year has been the hardest year of my life. I have never experienced hurt and sadness like I have this year.

I would be lying to you if I said that 2009 has been a year of joy. It hasn't. In fact, January 1, 2010 can't come fast enough. I am just ready to start a new year. As you can tell from my previous post, I lost someone very special to me. What hurts equally as bad is that I have to watch someone that I love more than life itself hurt more than he ever has in his whole life -- maybe more than he ever will. That is something I cannot fix -- and that hurts. I am completely helpless. I don't do helpless very well. I am a fixer. I try to fix everything.

I would be lying to you if I said I was whole-heartedly looking forward to Christmas. It will be really difficult. Christmas was Marsha's favorite time of the year. There were 3 Fry's who "did" Christmas and 2 of them are gone. No one can replace Meme and Marsha, but I feel a very strong pressure to try, and I can't help but feel very overwhelmed because those are HUGE shoes to fill. I feel so inadequate to fill them. I know that God doesn't call the equipped, he equips those that he calls. But, it's hard to live that way all the time.

My every thought is consumed with Marsha. More than I ever thought could be possible. I miss her with every ounce of my being. I would be lying if I told you I wasn't still a little angry. I am. I wish she was here. I wish she wasn't taken from us. One of the hardest things to do is watch a strong man just weep and weep because he misses his mother. It is hard to watch him go through something you wish he didn't have to. It's hard because there is nothing you can do but hold him.

I miss her. I miss her voice, her laugh, her strength that inspired me, her smile, her advice, the way she would call me just to see what I thought about American Idol, her emails, our talks about life and Aaron, her positive attitude she always had and hearing about the incredible faith she had. I miss her.

Will all of this make all of us stronger? Yes. However, that doesn't mean I want to go through it.

I am sorry for the gloomy post. This is just my heart right now. Hopefully, next post I will post pictures of my new house; and it will be a little more cheerful.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

-Lauren

My Sweet Mother-in-law

Marsha Jo Fry
(February 6, 1956 - July 24, 2009)

Marsha Jo Fry
Long-time Ballinger resident, Marsha Jo Fry, went to be with her Lord on July 24, 2009.

There will be a visitation and viewing from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday, July 26, 2009 at Ave B Church of Christ. Memorial service is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Monday, July 27, 2009 at Ballinger High School Auditorium.

She was born February 6, 1956 in Ft. Worth to Joel and Alyne Jo (Klepper) Amyett. Her mother preceded her in death. Marsha is survived by her husband of 32 years, Mike of Ballinger; sons, Aaron Fry and wife, Lauren, of Houston, and Brandon Fry of Abilene; father, Joel Amyett of Grapevine; and sister, Debbie Sandoval of Kyle. Additionally, she is survived by numerous extended family members, all of whom loved her deeply.

Marsha was a member of the Ave B Church of Christ where she was active in all aspects of the church. Her special love was teaching Sunday school to children. Never being satisfied with simple Bible lessons, she was always looking for new and creative ways to share the good news of God's love.

Marsha’s first and foremost love was her sons. Throughout their youth she was their biggest supporter in sports, academics and spiritual matters. She always encouraged them to be the best they could and took great delight in every phase of their lives.

Marsha received her bachelor’s degree from Abilene Christian University and was a high school teacher for 24 years in the Ballinger Independent School District. She loved her students and encouraged them to reach for the greater things in life. Marsha had great respect for BHS faculty and students, all of whom supported her unconditionally through her 1 ½ year battle with cancer.

The family would like to thank you for the support given to us over the past several months. Marsha loved the community of Ballinger. Your love and concern for her has been overwhelming. In lieu of flowers, the family wishes any memorial donations be given to Lifeline Chaplaincy, 1415 Southmore Blvd, Houston, TX 77004.

“If will, grit and determination could cure breast cancer, she would have been cured before diagnosis.” -Dr. Frankie Holmes, Marsha's doctor and friend.

So lucky

Here is a glimpse into the Fry's life lately...

This was when we went back to Ballinger to visit! This is Aaron and I with his beautiful MeMe!




So since becoming a Houstonian I have become a pretty proud Rockets fan. I have gone to many a Rockets game... and I have seriously NEVER paid for a ticket. Haha we just have the hookups. Aaron's boss sometimes gives us his 4th row tickets (we saw the Rockets vs. the Cavs from those seats... I can say that I saw LeBron James up close and personal!!!!), and our really good friends Kat and Matt (aka "Kat in the Matt") have 10th row tickets behind the players bench. That is where these pictures were taken. It was the last home game against the Hornets. We were pretty excited that we won because the Mavs had just lost to the Hornets the night before. :)

Aaron's pretty excited.




This is "Kat in the Matt" and I



The Bush Sr.'s were also there! It was so neat to see them! They were only there until half time, but they donated some money, so there was a presentation of the check! There was a standing ovation for them! It was pretty cool!





This one is for Mr. Marty... Clyde "The Glide" Drexler doing his report after the game.




A few things... yes when someone takes a picture from sitting down, of me with my mom and sister... I look like a giant... and yes they both tan so it makes me look ridiculously white.







Right now the major things going on... we are searching for a car! We haven't completely narrowed down yet so you'll have to wait and see what we choose!

Next weekend my best friend is getting married in Kerrville, Texas. I have never been to an outside wedding... so I can't wait to see how beautiful it is going to be!!! I will promise to post pictures!

That's it for now. I figured pictures would be better than alot of text! :) Thanks for stopping by!

Lauren

PICTURES of love! :)

Here are a some pictures! The first ones are from our anniversary. We are eating the top layer of cake. It was super good! My mother in law did a really good job of saran wrapping it! The other set of pictures (starting from the flowers) are from Valentine's Day! Enjoy!

















Lauren

Music To My Ears

Well, here we are... Year 2009! So far so good! Things are looking good! Aaron and I have started going to a new church, I love my new job and Aaron and I have now been married for a whole year! It is crazy how time flies!

We celebrated our 1 year anniversary on January 5. It honestly doesn't feel like it's been a whole year. I feel like just yesterday I was planning the thing! The anniversary was on a Monday so since we both had to work we decided we would just go out to eat. We went to eat at Benihana's, a Japanese Steakhouse. The food is soo good, and you feel so stuffed when you leave! After dinner we came back to the house and ate the top of our wedding cake. It tasted SOOO good! I have heard so many stories from brides of how awful it tasted. Ours was amazing! My mother in law did a good job wrapping that sucker in saran-wrap! I am such a lucky girl. I definitely have the best husband in the world! I know it sounds cheesy... but loving him makes me a better person. I am so blessed to have him in my life to love me, encourage me and to hold me accountable. He knows, understands and just gets me better than anyone. (sometimes it's even a little scary how well he knows me!) I thank God everyday that he made such an incredible man for me!

Enough of the mushy stuff... I am loving my job! Right now I am working on designing a website for a jewelry company! I get to edit and write the text and code that is "behind the scenes" of the website! It's so fun! I'm learning how to write in 'marketing style.' I'm used to writing news releases and news stories, and they always teach you in school to 'cut out the fluff.' Well, in marketing, sometimes it's all about the fluff! So that's new for me, and I like that I am still learning stuff and am able to challenge myself!

Another great new beginning for Aaron and I is our new church! I am so pumped about it! Here's the deal about church for Aaron and I. I was raised Baptist, and he was raised Church of Christ. Well, I believe that the man should be the spiritual leader of the family. So I had really prayed about it and this is the conclusion I came to... I asked Aaron a long time ago why he felt that he needed to stay at a COC church. (In my heart I knew that if he could give me a spiritual reason with scripture to back it up, I couldn't contest that. I couldn't contest that because if I wanted him to be the spiritual leader I couldn't put down what he felt in his heart. If I did that, it would belittle him and I wouldn't be giving him the privilege and honor of being the leader.) Aaron gave me his answer, and he definitely had scripture to back it up. That was that. From then on, we have gone to a Church of Christ. My problem, however, wasn't the theology that COC's believe... it was the no instruments. Here I am... this girl raised with a passion for music. Music with instruments. I played an instrument for 10 years of my life. Before I met Aaron I had been singing in the church since I was 5. I had been apart of a praise band since I was a freshman in high school. You can see where I am going with this. Praise and Worship is my passion. You can imagine what was the hardest part for me being in an a capella church. But, I followed my husband with all of my heart, and knew that God would work out the details.

In November Aaron and I started going to a new church called First Colony Church of Christ. I just wasn't happy at the church we were going to at the time, and during this time was when gas was at its peak and we had a solid 45 minute drive to Spring, TX. We decided it was time for a change and something a little closer to home. Our first day at the new church I just fell in love with it. It was still a capella, but the music was more contemporary and there weren't as many older songs that I have never heard of. I loved everything about it... the music, the people and the sermon! I still missed the instruments, but I loved this church. During Christmas break the church made an announcement that was 'music to my ears' so to speak... "Starting February 1st we will have two different services. The 8:30 service will be a capella and the 11:00 service will be instrumental." OH MY GOSH! It was the answer to my prayer that I have been praying for the past 3 years!!! I truly feel that God has listened to my prayers and has blessed my obedience to Him and my husband. It just goes to show that He really does mean... pray without ceasing. He does give us the desires of our hearts!

That's all of my awesome news for now! I hope you are all enjoying 2009 so far!
I promise to post pictures AS SOON as I can! :)

Lauren