In November of 2005, one month before officially moving to Florida, we came to Orlando for Thanksgiving and to begin the process of moving into our new home. During that visit we decided to take a trip out to one of the local parks and do a little snorkeling. Jonathan’s brother Andy and sister-in-law Amanda also came along for the snorkeling adventure (everyone else enjoyed the scenery while staying nice and dry.) It turned out that those of us that braved the water that day truly got the chance of a lifetime. While we were exploring the waters and the spring below something amazing happened-we were all of a sudden surrounded by a mama and baby manatee-they evidently swam into the spring after we had gotten there. We attempted to swim and get away from them, but they seemed more curious about us and appeared to want to play. We kept our distance, but they kept appearing. The mama manatee seemed especially attracted to Jonathan and literally would not leave him alone. There are laws in Florida about the manatees and being new to the state we were not really sure what they were, so after a while we decided that we would go ahead and leave and let them be. We swam with manatees-it is something I will never forget!

We got Lucky the cat after our neighbor’s cat had kittens. Cody and his friend Gage had named all of the kittens and Lucky got her name because she seemed to get lost on a number of occasions and was always miraculously found so the boys felt she was very lucky. At the time we already had one cat and the fear of having two cats was not enough when my seven year old son comes and tells me that he wants to give Lucky a home, “Can we have her, pplllleeeeeaaaassssseeee?” Moms out there know that pulling-at-your-heartstrings feeling. Ok so yes…I caved, I gave in, I succumb to the pressure (not really…she was so darn cute I could not resist myself!) So we gave Lucky a home and she became Cody’s cat. Now there are some that have called her “psycho” because she tends to not like others and will lash out at those that try to be-friend her and I am afraid I have to confirm that this has occurred and she has therefore earned her name “psycho cat”. With our move to Orlando Lucky went to live with my parents…we miss her, but she has now become my Dad’s cat (although Cody will always claim her as his!)

She always slept with Cody (and usually right at his head!)Lucky after moving in with my parents…and I dare ask-does she look psycho to you?

Faith. It is what I live by. It is what I am rooted in. It is what got me through 2009 and will be with me throughout 2010. It is how I live my life and in everything I do. It is a part of my every day world that I live in. I was introduced to a magazine a little over five years ago by the youth pastor, Steve Corn, at our former church in Texas. That magazine is “Relevant” with the tagline-God. Life. Progressive Culture. And it is all that (and a bag of chips!) I have since moved to Orlando where Relevant is based. Relevant covers all music, all movies, all world issues and everything in between and when they discuss the most relevant movies of the decade they are truly relevant movies that we have all seen, “secular” movies (for lack of a better way to describe them.) I am not fond of using the word “secular” because it seems to be used to describe something not christian, which is not the case. My faith is part of my every day, “secular” life and this magazine speaks to that. I have been a subscriber for about five years now. I think you should check out their website and see what you think…