Josh and Keri

I glared at a picture from a folder on my laptop that read, “Sample Pictures.” Seconds before opening the folder I looked at my background picture of myself and a very close friend. The reality hit like the typical cliché, a load of bricks. I was on the brink of losing the relationship I had put so much effort into. The picture was taken a week yesterday. And I heard the news today.

She was leaving.

When one goes it tends to remind you of those who have gone before them. Memories overwhelm your soul with the loved ones you have let close to your heart….some would say too close. I can not help but wonder if the pain would never again exist if I could simply turn off the switch of my heart, so that the light and warmth would only shine for self alone? If I could just go to a state of numbness and forever live with that reality, instead of these moments.

It has been done before, by alcoholics, drug addicts, anorexics, bulimics, shopaholics, workaholics, rat packs, etc. Numbed by whatever it is that drives them. Relationships are no longer the goal to obtain…..but whatever that feeling is that comes with the compulsion.

Is it so wrong to give up? And does this needless talking have a point?

Perhaps not, but the picture, a simple moment caught in time.

A picture of a forest; a path in the forest, made by some sort of vehicle that left in two dirty tread marks in its wake. Could one over analyze this piece of art, of course….this too happens all the time.

I glared at a picture from a folder on my laptop, a picture that read, “Life.”

The beginning of the path was clear, dirt marks left the signs that some one had been there. They had implanted a part of them selves among the trees, their leaves, the wind which held a hint of mist, and the spirit.

The end of the portrait was a bit foggy, one might be scared to follow the path with out being able to see what lay ahead. A white cloud hid more forest, another piece of the path….who knew. The only way to know was to walk on.

The uncertainty for some would be to much, so they would sit in the dirt that had been made for them by some one else…waiting for the veil to lift and show what lye ahead. Some would figure they had nothing to fear…it was a forest and more of the same trees, the same grass, same leaves are the items that lay waiting for them. So they would walk unable to fully take in their surroundings. It would only be a matter of time before they would find them selves in a world they simply could not figure out. Same trees, same path, same leaves or not, their eyes could not fully see.

But some, maybe some, would see that there was not one tread mark in the clearing, but two. Sure they were made most likely by a jeep with four wheels, two on each side; none the less there were two dirt paths for a reason. Two imprints in world around them, in their reality.

Perhaps we were not meant to walk alone our paths. We are not meant to sit alone and wait. We are not meant to block the path of those who walk beside us. Perhaps we walk with others so as to have multiple eyes in life. As the path changes the human who walks beside us may change, they may not be able to see the large rock, the way a new human could.

The reality is it is scary and painful to lose those who we have let close to us on our path in a dark and scary forest. We come upon valleys, cliffs, mountains, and deserts and think there is only one person who could have taken this journey with us. When in reality some know how to grow nourishment in the valleys. Others know how to rock climb on the cliffs. Some know how to survive the fierce weather of a mountain. While yet others know how to save water and travel through the desert with us.

I may know how to walk through a forest, but I would need others to be my second tread mark.

                                                                                                                        ~Keri Lee

I know it has been a little while since our last update. This is due to many reason…but the most important one….I am lazy and my husband never even looks on this thing he he he.  

Since the last update we have moved in with our friend Tiffany who I work with. She has an adorable puppy named cupcake who is about four months old now. She is a bit loud at times but mostly just cute!  

We are still in the process of buying the condo and we should know for sure if it will be ours by the end of this week. If all goes well we will be moving into our very own condo.,….which out here is the same of an apartment by November 21^st.  

When not worrying about the upcoming move/ invest our life savings into a piece of property. Josh has the opportunity of hopefully being able to present some of his most recent research at a national conference. He has to submit his work to the conference committee in the beginning of December. If accepted he will go and present his results! So this is a huge opportunity and slightly stressful at the same time. On top of that on December 16^th we will be celebrating out TWO YEAR ANNIVERSERY!!!!!!!!!!!!  

So we have a few exciting months/changes ahead of us. Which is good since we will not be able to come home for the holidays again this year. It is hard to not be near family during these upcoming months but we are hoping to make it home during the first few months of 2009. My mother will be out here during Christmas which we are super excited about and then we have made many of great friends out here! So we have been truly blessed and I know we will not be alone this year during these happy times!  

Praise God for all the friends and wonderful opportunities we’ve had since moving out to the East Coast. We truly love it out here and never want to go back to the
Midwest….EVER! Ha ha ha just kidding….I know for a few of you that may have made your heart stop. Breathe it is okay. We don’t know where we will be in the next few weeks…so how could we know where we will be in the coming years. He he he.  

So this is us and our update. We love you and as always we appreciate your support….
(mostly the monetary support….that we are still waiting for ….from some of you! He he he jk) and we appreciate your prayers most of all. Love youKeri and Josh (but mostly just Keri since I’m the only one who cares to keep you all informed about our life he he he )

So last Tuesday, Josh and I spen the entire day packing up boxes and cleaning our small one bedroom apartment. We had bigs plans to move on Sunday into a friends house that would allow us to have the entire second floor of this four bedroom, two and half bath house. With a Hot tub as well. whoo hoo.

So around when we recieve a call from our realtor we are not quite sure what to think. After talking to her she confeses that the owners of the condo want to come down in price again…..so it looks like we might have a chance after all!!! Which would be great. LEave it to the Lord to create roller coasters out of a smooth path.

For those of you who may not know…I wanted to let ya know that Josh and I did not end up getting the condo after all. Due to the economy and the mortgages they way they are  at this time. We were unable to get the loan we wanted and thus we have decided to rent for a while longer. We are happy with this descion and feel that it will be the right one for us. While we morn the lose of our first home…..We are excited to still be able to enjoy our life and not have to tie all our money up in a house. So please pray for us as we continue to look for the right place to live.

So I know you are all sitting on the edge of your seats waiting to hear about whether or not we got the Condo. Well………………………………………………..WE DID!!!!! Yay. We are so excited but now we feel like there is a ton of things we need to get done! We have to pack and get all the paperwork in order, get a home inspection done, and just so much more.

But the good news is that now when you all come to visit we have a place to put you! We have a 2 bedroom and 1 and 1/2 bathroom. As apposed to our now one bedroom 600sq foot apartment. Don’t get me wrong it is still a small place. In both MI and IN this place would be considered an apartment….but not on the good old east coast! here we call them Condos! We will have access to a swimming pool and tenis courts and a rec room. So we are excited about taking this next step in life. Any one want to come help us move? It would only coast a plane ticket, a few meals, and um some furniture (as our spare bedroom does not have a bed yet) he he he just kidding. I will post pictures as soon as we move.

Love

Keri and josh

Ok not really, but we are getting there. we have put in an offer on a 2 bedroom 1 and 1/2 bath condo this week. The sellers did counter us and we countered them once again. We are praying diligently to see if this is the home the Lord has for us. So we shall see. but please keep us in your prayers and we will keep you updated!!!! YAY

A few months ago…I thought that life could not get any harder. I can’t say I was right or that I was wrong. But the truth is that we would not have made it through with out those God has strategically place in our life to help us along the hard rocky path.

During times of doubt and utter misery we turned to family, friends, teachers, and prayer wariors for help. Some offered words of wisdom, others offered a loving ear, some offered plans or their personal stories. We had a lot of help and some times I can easly over look the fact that so many people helped carry us through. Out here it is easy to think we are on our own and that we have to fight the battles alone. we forget while not in close proximity that there are people out there who love us and truly truly care about our quality of life. 

Josh got word today that he recieved a grant we have been waiting for that will provide funding for us for the next year and allow him to continue to follow his dreams and pursue research in the area that interests him the most. I am still waiting to see the results of some new medicine that I’m trying. We are continueing to question are believes and what we have been told to blindly think and follow all our lifes. We are meeting new people and trying to understand their believes and their struggles as well.

 We could not have made it this far with out many of you.

To Josh Mother Judy Campbell…because of you we know the power of prayer and the strength of a woman. We know the love of a mother and the desire to see her children be all they can be.

to Josh’s father Rick Campbell…we have leaned on you many of times from learning to fix things around the house, to getting the dent out of our brand new car that was only two weeks old (if you don’t know the story do not ask!) Along with finacial descions.

To Josh’s sister, we have learned the art of decorating and how furniture works to accent a room and should not overwhelm it.

To My Mother Lin Jarratt…we have learned to embrace life. We’ve learned the beauty of health and happiness. We have learned to scrap by on pennies and to cherish the little things. Like  birthday presents that do not involve any pennies to a simple slow dance.

To my sister…Kelly, we’ve learned the importance of always working towards being a better person. We’ve learned to always put family first and to be the bigger person….even when it hurts.

To all our Aunt’s and Uncle’s….we have learned that we always have people to turn to when we can not find our way. We’ve learned that you are not just old people he heh e but people who have lived life and have so much wisdom and experience to share with us.

To our friends…we’ve learned to have fun, to laugh even when the flood waters seem so high you could drown if you open your mouth. We’ve learned what loyalty is and that we always have people to confide in.

To God….we are still learning from you. And while your parables and proverbs are often hard to follow and internalize we continue to have faith. We see your beauty in this wonderful country that you have given us and the love of those you have placed in our life.

the city

I like this one

The Duck

He he he

Kelly and Josh in the subway

Elephant ears

Lobster!!!!

Me And Kelly

Hey Friends,

So as some of you know two weeks ago I had my third and final nerve block in efforts to keep the endo pain at bay, however, it ended up creating a whole new nightmare. I had the procedure done on a Thursday and on Friday afternoon I was in ER in excruciating pain. I ended up staying the night in ER on heavy pain medication. I Took the week off of work and saw the dr the following wed. The dr explained that sometimes during the proceedure the medicine can leak out in the muscles and because they are using steriods to block the pain when it gets in the muscles it can cause extreme pain. So she wrote me a note to keep me out of work for the rest of the week and perscribed several other pain medications.

Kelly ended up coming out this on Saturday which was so good for my moral. We went into the city on Sunday and had fresh Lobster for only $10 dollars….yes yes I know you are all jealous and you should be. This is what you could have if you came to see me!!!! A whole lobster to yourself!!!! Then we went shopping on our Mass Tax Free Holiday weekend and ended up getting a set of jewlery that was regularly priced at over $200 for only $18!!!!! How great is that. On Monday we went to a local farm and got fresh peaches for peach cobler….and Homemade gellato……SOOO GOOD!!! Then we went back into the city and took a duck tour around the city and on the Charles River which was fun. It was a good way to see the city and get some history in as well. After that we went to a local greek resturaunt and tried new and exciting foods! Kel and I wish we had ordered something completely different but what we had was good. On Tuesday morning we made our peach cobler and sadly Kelly had to leave the good Northeast. But we had a blast and it was sooo good to see family. Always so refreshing. It is amazing how you can miss people so much!!!

Pictures are soon to come but you will once again have to wait until I’m at home and upload them!

So this has been a quick update from yours truly….he he he

My friend Corrine and I

thats us

ummmm I don’t think this has any words

I thought it was a real horse…what can I say

This one is for my mom

This was Josh’s idea…enough said

Getting a new hat

Our snake Copper…..Look how long he is

So today is the one year anniversary of our arrival in to Massachusetts! And they love us out here. We are learning to use words like “wicked” and “fresh” (and no that does not mean that the food is fresh out here…it means being sassy, weird I know that’s the northeast for ya). True to my southern roots of the Lee Family….I still say “Ya’ll” all the time and get made fun of all the time! I still crave sweet tea and love fresh water over salt water!

One year ago today, josh and I along with my mom and his parents, drove up in front of a big Yellow house…thinking “I drove in the car for 17 hrs for this????” Upon entering the small apartment (all five of us) we realized how small our new world had become. We unloaded HALF of all our possessions in to the house (knowing that not all of our things would fit in the 600ft apartment.)

The next day we went out and explored the city. We took a tour by land and by sea! We saw where Paul Revere was buried (very unimpressive by the way), we saw where Mother Goose was buried (Very impressive by the way). We walked by the popular bar “Cheers,” and we ate fresh lobster (or Lobsta as they would say).

 After saying good bye to our beloved family, we realized it was just the two of us! Scary yes!!!! he he he. We spent the entire next month cooped up in our small apartment with out a  job or any money, there was not much to do. he he he. Soon there after I started a job at Sentient Jet. Which provides private jets for the rich and famous (And no I can not tell you who we fly). Josh started his first year of school and we struggled to make friends HA yeah right!

Anyways, since moving out to the northeast, I’ve learned many a new things. Such as Sports apparently they are big out here…..Go Red Soxs. I’ve learned a whole new language, who knew the work “Saw” could be pronounced “Sawer” Yes it really does happen….a lot! I have learned to take the subway by myself (this was a huge and terrifying experience for me). I have actually had the pleasure of visiting several of our good Northeastern ER rooms. (Don’t ask way to long of a story). I have learned that placing a chair in front of your apartment in the city means you are saving a parking spot for later. When you say the word “Wicked” you are not talking about Satan or the wicked witch of the west??? Who knew? I learned that they get hurricanes out here, although not often.  And most importantly…..I have learned to drive like a TRUE Big City Gal!!!!!

So one year down and four more to go. So what now???? I’ve learned a new vocabulary and how to cut people off on the road with just an inch of road between us. What could I possible do next.

Well we are looking in to buying a condo (I think I’ve said this before.) Anyways, that is it for now. Who knows what next year will bring????

I will post new pics prob on Sunday, we recent went to the zoo and hung out at the beach with some friends. So they are coming please be patient with me.

Love ya

Keri

So friends and family, I thought I would give a quick update. And please know that there are more pictures to come, I just have to get them loaded on the computer so please bare with my procrastisism.

Josh and I are currently looking in to Buying a house/condo…..nothing like buying property to make you feel old. Well and we did both just turn 24 so you know, the wrinkles are setting in!!!!!

We havn’t found anything yet, and this whole move is totally in God’s hands. I will be cutting back some of my work hours due to my health….in efforts to help the pain. And Josh’s lab is still working to find funding for his research. So we are really leaving this up to the Lord. So please join us in prayer over this descion and we would greatly apperciate it.

Well that is really the big update for us. We look forward to spending the 4th of july in Boston!!! How cool will that be?

Love ya all,

Keri