Howdy. Have you ever spent the entire day cleaning? Well, that's what Michelle and I did today. You might've heard of spring cleaning, but we did winter cleaning today. I also accomplished something not very common for me. I fixed something! LOL A floor lamp to be precise. I usually ask my father-in-law for help in the handy man department, but he is out of town. Anyway, the floor lamp had a short in the dimmer switch, so I went to Lowes and bought one. After the associate gave me a quick run down of how to change the switch, I went home and attempted it. And succeeded! Yeah! LOL We also spent much of the day cleaning out closets and cupboards, pulling out our winter gear. YES! Florida has been getting COLD! 38 degrees the other night! And I thought Florida was supposed to be warm! I am so glad the heater in my car works now that I'm getting off from work at midnight. Not much  else to say, really, exept for stating that my daughter is really strange sometimes. I had a half empty bottle of Aquafina water by the couch today, and she crawled over and grabbed it. After she crawled away from me, she proceeded to spend the next hour keeping herself occupied by rolling the bottle around, or trying to chew on the cap, or even sitting on it and trying to pull it out from underneath her. Michelle and I were sitting on the floor near her the entire time, and were amazed at how a baby could entertain herself with nothing more than a half embpty bottle of water... Well, Catch you all later. Adios,

Darrell

What to say.....what to say. It's been just under a year since my last entry. Life has definately been interesting. I'll start from where I left off. My dad came out from California for a visit while Bethany was still in the hospital. While he was here, my Chevy broke down. Rather than fixing it, my dad offered to buy us a newer car. We finally settled on a 1995 Plymouth Neon (Identical to the Dodge Neon). After dad left back to California, we went to the hospital and found out when we would be taking the baby home. Bethany came home on December 11th 2004. The first couple of months were interesting while we were getting used to having a baby in our house. We brought her home on oxygen and an apnea monitor. In February, Michelle's best friend, Lisa D., came out for a visit from California. Around this time, my job at the pizza restraunt began heading south. In March, I applied to Sears Home Improvement for a job. I found out it would be setting appointments for free in-home estimates on certain home imorovement projects. I thought it would be interesting and long term. I've now been in this job for nearly nine months, and unlike many of my coworkers, I'm pretty content with my hours. I just wish the pay could be better. I recently changed my hours, originally working 12 Noon to 9PM, but am now working 3PM to Midnight. These hours are a little better, because I now have more time to spend with Bethany during the day. Well, I hope I haven't bored too many of you. I'm just sorry it's been so long since I've mad an entry. Life has been very busy with a 13 month old crawling around the house. Talk to you later,

Darrell

Well, I've really got to stop waiting 2 or 3 months to update here. Michelle is now 22 weeks along in her pregnancy, and we've found out we're having a girl. We've decided on the name Bethany Grace Rose. We've started getting baby furniture and in about 1 month, we're going to start Lamaz classes. We're so excited. After finally getting a car (1983 Chevrolet Caprice Classic), I'm now working as a pizza delivery driver. Michelle and I have also decided to return to school. I hope to be attending either ITT Tech or Devry (depending on at which one OliveCrest would sponsor me), and Michelle would like to return to school and get her Medical Assisting degree. For those of you who don't know, we've had 3 hurricanes in our region. 2 of them, Charley & Frances, hit us nearly head on, while the third, Ivan, was almost a complete miss. However, we're now facing yet a fourth hurricane, known as Jeanne. As my father puts it, "You picked the wrong place to live." But I really love it here in Florida. Michelle and I have explored the Orlando area quite a bit, and I have become quite familiar with the area around us, primarily due to delivering Pizzas. Things are going quite well for us, and despite the hurricanes, we aren't planning on ever moving away from Florida. I've updated my website to include pictures of Michelle's pregnancy. Just go to my website and click on the link that says "I'm going to be a Daddy!" Well, not much else to write down right now, so keep checking back. I hope to update my Xanga more often.

Darrell

To anyone and everyone who may read this,

It's been 3 months since I wrote here, and I wanted to give you all a heads up on what's been going on with Michelle and I. Our 1 year wedding anniversary is rapidly approaching, and we've made plans to visit Disney World. This will be my first time in The Magic Kingdom (Obviously, since I had never even been to Florida before March), and I'm still scared that I will go into a shop or go on a ride and say "The first will always be the best. Long live Disneyland! Long Live Anaheim!" I had a little bout of homesickness today as I watched TLC's "Perfect Proposal." A gentelman had decided on proposing to his girlfriend while on a ride at Knott's Berry Farm, an amusment park located in Buena Park, California......the city I spent much of my youth in. I lived there from September of 1985 when my Dad and Stepmom moved us from Long Beach, to July of 1994 when I moved in with my Mom and Stepdad in Stanton. Anyway, seeing Knott's Berry Farm on TV brought back some memories of my childhood, along with the memories of when I worked for the amusment park back in September and October of 2001. But it also brought some tears to my eyes as I told Michelle "I can't watch this anymore." I never really thought I would get homesick. I didn't really get homesick in Idaho. Anyway, I have some great news....Michelle has successfully reached her 10th week of pregnancy. 10 down, 30 to go LOL. We are eagerly awaiting her next OB/GYN appointment on July 2nd, for on that date, weI will finally get to hear Baby Peanut's heart beat! This has been very exciting, especially after what happened in February. We just keep praying to God that something like that will NOT happen again. We're in a much better situation with very minimal stress this time. So......please keep us in your prayers. I've also been thanking God each and every day for my Father-in-law too. He gave me his computer, so I am no longer computerless! LOL. It feels so good being able to have all my MP3's and MPEG movie files again. I also have 2 new favorite bands: Bad Religion and Evanescence. I've spent countless hours over the last week downloading MASS amounts of Bad Religion MP3's and Music Videos. I have finally busted 1,000 mainstream MP3's. Today's count was at 1,067. I'm still thanking Jeremy for getting me my CD-RW Drive, cuz I rarely run out of room on my hard drive anymore. well, I'm gonna say goodnight to all of you. Ooops, almmost forgot my prayers.

Dear Lord, Thank you for always being there when we need you. We continue to ask you to bless this pregnancy, as we want a beautiful and healthy child that we can teach of your love. Please be with my Dad as he settles in to his new "Single" life. Please also watch after Kathy. Continue to watch my Mom as she undergoes shoulder surgery, as she and my Stepdad  re-settle into California, and as Jennifer begins life in Junior High School. Please also continue to watch over my Father-in-law as he continuously goes out of town on business trips. Please watch over Lisa B and her family as they prepare to move, and as she deals with her predicament. This we pray in the name of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. Amen

Well, I'll talk to you all later.

Goodnight,

Darrell

Deuteronomy 31:6 - For the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.