Getting started...

So I finally decided to give this a try. Here recently we've had a lot of change going on in the Hynes household and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to keep in touch with everyone. In the beginning of 2008 I knew that this year was going to bring a lot of change for Allen and I. Little did I know exactly what was going to happen or when, but I just knew that this year was going to be different. We started off the year by celebrating our 4 year anniversary! woohoo!!! It is hard to believe how fast time flies. Let me do a recap for you of what we have been up.

• We vacationed in Jamaica, Chicago, New York City (twice for Julie), Florida, and Las Vegas


• We have been active members in our sunday school as Social Directors, Care Group Leaders, and active with the mens/womens ministry


• I have hosted 7 baby showers and attended 14 baby showers


• I have hosted 2 wedding showers and attended 7 weddings


• Allen played in a basketball league for 1 season and softball league for 2 seasons


• I took cake decorating classes. It's very fun to do, but very time consuming!


• Allen was active in a weekly bible study in downtown Dallas.


• I attended two women's bible studies at FBC Allen.


• We have been to three concerts: Josh Groban, Chris Botti, and Bon Jovi


• Allen went to his first Cowboys game this year and had a blast!

I also had a couple of job changes in there. One of the most exciting things that has happened is Allen and I became Uncle Allen and Aunt JuJu!! We have a nephew, Jon Cooper Chambers, who is 19 months old. He goes by "Cooper" or "Coop." (This is my maiden name) It's even more exciting now because our family has continued to grow! We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Noah Wesley Sasse sometime during the month of July! My oldest sister, Angie and her husband Ben, live in Florida so we won't be there when he is born but hopefully shortly there after. Then in September we get to meet another addition to the family. Teresa, my older sister, and her husband Chad are having their second child. Stay posted and we should know next week what they are having.

As for Allen and I we are holding off on starting a family. We thought our time was last year, but God revealed to us that it was not in His plan for us at that point. At the end of September 2007 we found out we were pregnant with our first child. I will never forget that day and the overwhelming joy it brought to me! But over the course of the next month the blood tests were not giving us the confidence that this was a healthy pregnancy. I would go in for blood work every 48 hours and then get the results back the next day. It was an emotional rollercoaster every 2-3 days! We never felt that we could get too excited about the pregnancy because there was a high risk that this was going to end in a miscarriage. At the beginning of November we did lose the baby at 8 weeks. Although it was very hard to accept we know that we have an angel in Heaven waiting for us.

Then at the beginning of 2008 the real estate market remained very unstable and Allen's company got bought out. As a result of this Allen got laid off. However, he bounced back very quickly! Within three weeks he had accepted a new job which will be relocating us to Houston!!!! He is very fortunate that he not only found a job so quickly, but that he found something that he loves to do. He will be working for North Houston Bank in downtown Houston doing commercial real estate underwriting. This is where it is going to sound like our lives are moving in Fast Forward. Since the day Allen accepted his new job here is what has happened:

• Withhin 1 week: Allen went to FL for Spring Training for a week; Interviewed realtors


• Within 2 weeks: Found a realtor to sell our house in Allen and a realtor to help us find a place in Houston; Got the house ready and put it on the market; I had some interviews for jobs in Houston


• Within 3 weeks: Not much activity, we just did a lot of research for the move


• Within 4 weeks: Got two offers on the house! I also heard back on an interview I had that looks promising!

We are very excited about the move but it will be hard to leave all of our friends. They have become like family and we are so thankful to have such wonderful friends. These are definitely lifelong friends! I had a feeling that everything would work out, I just didn't anticipate that it would all happen this quickly! It is very true that God has a perfect timing for EVERYTHING! I'll keep you posted as everything happens!

Here is a picture of our house that is for sale.