25 Things You May or May Not Know About Me

My friend, Gale, posted 25 things about herself about a month ago, and tagged anyone who had not done it. So, since I haven't done this before, I'll try to come up with 25 things. If you haven't done this, I hope you'll share as well. :)

1. My first name's spelling (Marea) was thought up by my dad & his Air Force buddies. (a French version)
2. I share the same middle name as my mom & my mother-in-law. (& sister-in-law)
3. My brother and I are the same age for 1 month & 4 days. :)
4. I am the shortest person in my family (parents, aunts, uncles, cousins) but not my my nieces and nephews ....... yet.
5. The first occupation that I remembering wanting to be when I grew up was a car mechanic.
6. I drove a black Trans Am-with an eagle on the hood, t-tops, & an awesome engine-for two years.
7. I worked as a bank teller my Senior year in High School & received credit for it.
8. I graduated with a B.A. in Elementary Education/Bible from Hobe Sound Bible college.
9. I had a pet cat named "Stupid" (Jeff said I could keep him, if he could name him)
10. I taught 5th grade for two years at Hobe Sound Christian Academy.
11. I am in my twelfth year of teaching at Pilgrim Christian School.
12. I received my M.A. in Elementary Education from Liberty University.
13. Almost all of my schooling at Liberty University was FREE (ACE scholarship & Pilgrim Christian School board paid for it!!)
14. I shook hands with the late Dr. Jerry Falwell: Chancellor/founder of Liberty University.
15. I had short labors with both of my girls. Thank the Lord! :)
16. I failed my driver's license test the first time when we moved to Ohio.
17. I still keep in contact with one of my childhood friends (from the age of 10yrs. at least).
18. I do not like deep water when swimming, even though I had swimming lessons in H.S.
19. For as long as I can remember, I have loved to read.
20. I really like chocolate covered, custard doughnuts (though I craved Dunkin Doughnut's powered-sugar, vanilla filled ones when pregnant with Sharree).
21. I love Christmas! I usually begin listening to Christmas music in September.
22. I like snowman paraphernalia.
23. I like peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches.
24. I hope to one day have a fireplace installed in my living room.
25. I have been to the Bahamas (Senior class trip at HSBC).

My Valentine

My sweetie & his "new" truck! (7/08)

It is hard to believe that Jeff & I will be married 20 years in July!! It doesn't seem that long, but time has a way of telling on us. :) Anyways, as I was reading through my blogger friends' posts, one of them had written how they had met their husband and was interested in the stories of how other couples met and became Mr. & Mrs. This of course, made me do some reminiscing. So...... here's how Jeff & I met:
We first met at Hobe Sound Bible College while serving on the Bus Ministry for our Christian service requirements (8/86). My initial impression of Jeff was that he was a bit "strange" :), but he became one of my circle of friends during my freshman year of college. Jeff & some of his friends worked for an electrician and I had a group of friends that I chauffeured to & from their cleaning & babysitting jobs. We all usually arrived at the dining hall around 5:30 and had to eat "late-tray" suppers, which we did together. Thus we all became pretty good friends while eating together (a conservative/Holiness/church tradition :) - eating!). During one of these times Jeff asked me to marry him. I told him, "NO", since I was dating someone from NY at that time (which he knew & was confident I would say, "no").
Then in January 1987, I broke up with the guy I was dating from NY, and sometime after that I had a hilarious dream about Jeff asking me to marry him. It got me "thinking" about him and watching him a bit more closely. Eventually we both knew that we liked each other, but Jeff was determined not to date anyone until his parents became saved. After a conversation with his pastor about dating & prayer, and me leaving on Spring Break ("Absence makes the heart grow fonder" actually worked this time), his ideas about dating changed and Jeff finally asked me out on a date about two months later (Yes, 2 mths later). I couldn't stop smiling after he asked me, so my friends were able to quickly figure out what had happened. We went to a musical that Hobe Sound Christian Academy performed called, Fat, Fat Jehosophat. My friends also decorated a corner of the snack shop with a sign (Friday Night Special: Jeff & Marea), streamers, candlelight, & sundaes. And thus began our dating days.
During our college Christmas break in 1988, Jeff asked me to marry him. When he got down on his knees by the couch ,with the Christmas tree lights glowing beautifully beside me, I wondered....."What in the world is he doing?" Then he asked me those words that every girl dreams of hearing, "Will you marry me?" This time I said YES!!
I didn't mention that he had asked me to marry him a second time (the first time was, as mentioned before, during our freshman year) sometime during our sophomore year and I turned him down. Now before you think bad of me, I should explain that Jeff asked me if I would marry him in ten years. I said no, because I wanted to marry him sooner than ten years.
So, the third time was the charm and it was the perfect setting (I love everything about Christmas) for a marriage proposal. I still wonder about him at times, know life with him will never be boring, & plan on being married many more years!!!!
Now that I have shared my love story, I would love to read about how you met & fell in love with your sweetie.
Remembering has certainly made my heart smile! :)

FRIENDS

Friends. What a wonderful word! I am very thankful for my friends: new, long-time, near, far, intimate, etc. I do not want to ever take my friends for granted because my world would be quite "yukky" without them. It is a blessing to have friends to share my joys, frustrations, concerns, fears, discoveries, & the blond moments :) of life with them. I have some friends from high school and college days (25 years+) that when I talk with them via phone or in person, it does not seem that we have been apart and our conversations seem to pick up from where we last left off. I have newer friends since our move to Ohio (it's been about 14 years since we've moved here) and cherish their friendship just as much. It is nice having them close by, so I think I'm going to start making "play dates" with them. That is one thing I miss the most- going shopping or just doing something- with a friend, since most of us have families to take care of, live a bit from each other, and have work obligations.
Now you may be wondering why I have been going on about friendship. Well, my daughters have each had some of their friends from church over recently (Kerri's a couple of weeks ago & Sharree's today) and I am thankful that they are cultivating some lasting friendships with some awesome young ladies. Life is so much easier to navigate through, when you have a friend beside you and I feel it is a double blessing when that friend is on the "same page" as you.
So to all my friends and family (those that I know read this our my friends besides :)), I want you to know that I thank God for you and try to remember each of you in my prayers every day.


Kerri's buds: Evangelyn & Lindsay

Sharree's buds: Heather, Christianna, & Jennifer. (sorry the picture is a bit dark)

Wonderful White Wetness!

The ruler measures the snow at 10 inches. YAH!!!

Zeus LOVES the snow. Jeff threw a shovel of snow up in the air and Zeus jumped & attacked it, which he loves doing.

Bundled up against the snow, Jeff & Kerri are pondering, "Where exactly is the driveway?" I think it looks like they are thinking, "Yep, that's a lot of snow we have to shovel! :)

Views of our homestead (free lodging & food for any family & friends visiting OH :))

I am soooo proud of the weather forecasters/meteorologists! They predicted our snow storm on Wednesday at 8-12 inches, and we ended up with a total of 10 inches. We had no school and Jeff took a personal day, since his work called him and told him not to hurry in. Jeff and Kerri shoveled the first time around, and then everyone helped shovel the driveway again after it drifted over. Of course, I had to make homemade potato soup for lunch & nothing beats hot soup on a cold, wet day! Later on we played Dominoes for a couple of hours together, read books, & caught up on little things that needed to be done. It was nice having an unexpected day together. :)