Ok, Friends, if you're interested in our annual news, here goes. If not, feel free to delete :~P
2010 was a busy, blessed, and beautiful year -- with a few kinks thrown in to make us appreciate the rest!
Shane is continuing with his doctoral studies at NCSTATE in Raleigh -- probably just over half done with course work. It is a long process, and hard on our schedule and our finances! I am so proud of him for doing this (and doing well, so far!), but I'll be absolutely thrilled when he is finished!!!!!!
I have enjoyed a fringe benefit of getting to visit my sister in Durham more often and lots of special time with my nephew, Chandler, who will be 2 on March 30. He loves Aunt Nene and the feeling is quite mutual. I find him smart, funny, and fascinating! I've watched him grow and change and learn and it is utterly amazing. He'll be welcoming home a sibling late February/early March -- I'll love him/her regardless, but must admit my fingers are crossed for a girl. Shanda and Stephen are doing well.
We do have one other chance for a niece, as Shane's sister, Kelli, is pregnant -- due in June. We enjoyed spending time with them in June for Wylder's birthday. Unfortunately, we had an emergency when our best friend, Randy Spruill, ended up in the hospital with an aneurysm. We left immediately for the Outer Banks. Randy underwent a 12 hour brain surgery and was in the hospital/rehab from mid-June to mid-September -- not much of a summer for the Spruills. We visited a weekend in August right before we went back to school, and Randy was still not talking, walking, or doing much else. We had our regular Christmas weekend with them a couple of weeks ago, and he is walking with no assistance (no cane, no walker, or anything else!!!!!!) His talking is (almost) completely normal, and his voice sounds basically the same. His sense of humor is well intact, as is his zest for life. He continues with various therapies to try to regain as much capabilities as possible. His deficits are in his left arm/hand, vision, and some processing skills (mathematical stuff, for example). We all appreciate your continued prayers for the Spruill family. They are an amazing force in the world, and not surprisingly, they have faced this with grace, gratitude, and grit! We are excited for all the miracles we've witnessed in this family this year, and are hoping 2011 is much LESS eventful for them.
We are back in GA for our second visit of the year, and are enjoying our time very much -- Christmas traditions alive and well -- shopping, cooking, games, puzzle, family time. . . .we are blessed to still have Grandma Nita with us well into her 80s -- mostly healthy, mobile and living on her own with her husband of (almost) 2 years -- Papa Al. We are bittersweet to be here with almost all the family. Last year this time Randy was in Afghanistan and Josh was also there. Both are home now, safe and sound, praise God! Now, we have 2 new military family members, as Nelson Rey and Julia's boyfriend, Jonathan joined up. Both of them will probably end up in Afghanistan or Iraq. . .Also, Randy, Marina, and Mason are leaving here directly for Alaska -- their new orders. We will definitely miss them being so close! We have enjoyed tons of backyard parties, date nights, playdates, ball games, etc. while they've been in Fayetteville. The good news is perhaps we'll get a visit to Alaska -- the bad news is we will certainly not see them as often. The other young nephews are doing great -- Wylder will be 3 in June and Braden just turned 2. Josh and Sophia are still stationed in Italy, and that is the gaping hole this Christmas as they are not coming home. We miss them very much.
We are both still teaching at Union Chapel Elementary in Pembroke. Shane is teaching 6th grade (language arts this year) and I am teaching 2nd grade. I have a lovely group of 25 students that I am enjoying very much and cannot believe the year is almost half over. Shane has two blocks of 21 -22 students and is team-teaching with my former assistant, Jolena Locklear. As usual, he is stretched too thin with too many responsibilities, but it has provided opportunities for him to do some additional trainings throughout the county, which is good experience and (sometimes) provides extra income. . . so that is a positive. We both presented at last years' NC Reading Conference and are both slated to present this year as well. I have been blessed with the same assistant for 2 years now, and she is a friend as well as a colleague. We enjoy working together.
We are also both still involved with the Robeson County Reading Council. Shane is finishing his tenure as president of the organization and I am in my 4th year as Young Author Chair. While it has been an interesting experience, we will be glad when his presidential time is over. It is a lot of responsibility and requires a lot of time.
I am serving as chaplain for the second time for my educational sorority, Alpha Delta Kappa. We enjoy monthly meetings, doing altrustic projects, and fellowshipping/supporting each other.
In April, Shane and I began making some drastic lifestyle changes in regards to health and diet. We dove in full-force when school was out in June. Due to the changes, Shane lost 30 lbs and his sugar is well under control. I have lost 51 lbs! We have cut out all wheat, no processed sugar, as much natural, organic and fresh foods as possible. I have also integrated exercise, which has helped me in myriad ways. Currently, I am doing zumba 1-3 days a week at work, and fitting in whatever other exercise I can. We bought new bikes this year, too, which we have enjoyed.
In November, we had our annual Thanksgiving Praise service, with about 25 folks coming to sing and pray and worship and fellowship together. We enjoyed a variety of soups/crackers/breads, and ended our evening with the traditional bonfire/marshmallow toast.
We enjoyed our staff retreat in November as well, traveling to Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, VA. We had some nice time with our friend, Jonah Doeller. Shane presented for the retreat and had tons of schoolwork to do for his doctorate, so we didn't get a chance to do much else, but it was nice to get away.
Also In November, we began attending a new church in Whiteville. It is a contemporary, non-denominational church, with a worship band and over 1500 members on 3 campuses. While it is very different from the church that Shane and I were raised in, and the change did not come easily, it has already been such a blessing. We are beginning to get involved, and while we don't fully agree with everything, we find the overall spirit of the church to be very in line with where God has been leading us in our prayer and study. It is very focused on showing God's love in the world, as evidenced by our mission statement "changing lives that change the world". We find the services very motivational and Bible-based. And the people we've met and fellowshipped with so far seem to have a wonderful zest for Jesus and his story in our world. We enjoyed our very first candlelight communion service last Wednesday, which was absolutely wonderful. Our hope is that God is going to use us in mighty ways in this new community called Barefoot Church (named after the community in North Myrtle Beach where it began). While we will miss the Christmas Eve services in person, we are hoping to catch in on the Internet campus tonight, and look forward to Christmas services on Sunday and baptisms! If you're interested, you can check it out at barefootchurch.com. Or if you're local, we're meeting in the old Badcock building behind McDonalds. Sunday services are at 9:30 and 11:15. And while we realize that our Church of Christ friends and family will be disappointed in this decision, please know that it did not come easily or quickly, and that it was accompanied by lots of prayer and study. We hope that we can still fellowship as friends and family, and still consider you our brothers and sisters in Christ, and hope you can do the same.
We wish you all the best as we journey together into 2011. Our prayer for you is good health, happy times, and more blessings than you can count. If hard times come your way in 2011, our prayer is that God will grant you strength, patience, and perseverance to overcome your trials. Our hope is that we'll find joy in each others' company, whether face-face, on-line or via written communication. We love you all and thank you for being a part of our lives!
Many blessings, and much love,
Shane and Tonnye
Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love! ~Hamilton Wright Mabie
