I finally put together a little Pregnancy blog as an update to pregnancy stuff along the way. Please feel free to stop by and check it out:
Madelyn Paige
It is just one of those free hosting kind of things that puts the thing together for you, but I thought it might be fun to have that up there for people to see our progress.
In other news, we do still have our foster placement. I can't say much more as we are required to protect her privacy and the privacy of those involved in her case. But I will say that things are progressing as expected. This is strictly a foster placement at this time. That doesn't mean things won't change along the way, but for now we take it one day at a time. As always, we must put this in God's hands and pray that He will provide what is best for this little one. We must trust in His will and accept that whatever happens, it is the right thing. We will never understand what He does and to question it is simply unproductive - that doesn't mean I don't question the things He does or allows regularly - I am just saying it doesn't change things. So we will keep on this path until He tells us otherwise.
We appreciate your prayers and support as we continue this journey and look forward to sharing more news and updates as we have them.
Much love!
The Pringle Jr's
Photo Credit: Jeanna Cater
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Our Story
It's been a while.....you could say things have been a bit crazy in our neck of the woods....but mostly I have just been too tired to even think about updating the blog. I thought an easy post might be what got this whole "Pringle Family Rocks" thing started....so here is the story about how Patrick and I met, fell in love, broke up, got back together and eventually got married! Isn't it funny how life works out?
So it all started with one boy and one girl. Not really, but I always liked that little saying. It really all started back in Junior High - at least it did for me. You see, I spotted this boy across the courtyard at lunch one day. This blond haired - green eyed boy who always seemed to be the center of attention without trying. He caught my attention and I felt a little something right away. I was boy crazy, so I pretty much felt a little something every time I spotted a boy, so don't go getting all "love at first sight on me". :) Anyways, I knew who he was because, though he will deny it and say it was all just to do with who he grew up with, he was pretty popular even then. I, on the other hand, was definitely NOT! I ran around in such a different crowd that if it weren't for the fact that my entire grade had to go out to the courtyard after lunch, our paths would likely have never crossed ever.
Anyways, as things tend to go, I saw him around and always "admired" from afar, but I set my sights on a few other boys (remember, I was boy crazy) that were at least in some of my classes and even though they were also WAY out of my league, I had more chance of being able to actually talk to any of them. Patrick and I ended up in honor society together and we did Speech/Drama and that kind of thing, but we were always in different classes and never really interacted at all in Junior High. So it is no wonder that he didn't have a clue who I was! ( I still like to tease him about that a little!)
Fast forward a few years to High School where I actually SPOKE to my future husband! You see, we were both in choir (yup - we are both Choir nerds!) and he was immediately accepted in to the Varsity choir our Sophmore year - because he has an AWESOME voice (and because he was a boy and the new program director was trying to build up the choir program). I was placed in the Varsity choir temporarily due to a scheduling mix-up and met some of the people I would end up spending the majority of my high school time with - even though I didn't know it then. But as it goes, the mix-up was corrected and I was moved to the Women's choir. I actually flourished a little and became slightly less than a huge nerd by the end of my sophmore year (mostly just in choir, but I felt large and in charge there so that was all that counted!). I auditioned for the varsity choir for Junior year and got in! Of course, by that time Patrick had already made a name for himself in choir and was at the top of everyone's list anyways.
Some of you might think that our Junior Year is where things really started to take shape for our relationship. Well, they did.....kind of. They took shape in that I started dating one of Patrick's close friends and so we started hanging out more - as a group. We were all basically inseperable and if we weren't running around doing Choir stuff and other productions, then we were hanging out on the weekends very maturly TP'ing each others houses. (there is a funny story about that one where we did that to Patrick's house and his parents watched us from their bedroom window the whole time - we thought we were being so sneaky!). From choir trips, to plays and musicals to Prom and all the other "rights of passage" you go through in high school, our group of friends became connected in a way that only the best of friends can become. And Patrick and I were definitely close friends - but no more.
Relationships come and go and people move on when they graduate from high school. I went away to East Texas Baptist University on a vocal scholarship (don't be too impressed, I think they felt bad for me and decided to take me under their wing!) in Marshall Texas. Patrick stayed in A-town and moved in to an apartment with one of our friends (Shadowbrook!) I would like to say that is a time that he and I both matured and our friendship blossomed in to something more. But that would be a big fat lie. I don't even want to know what craziness went on in that apartment and I only made it one semester before I went completely mad and had to move back to the "big city"! I LOVED Marshall and ETBU and everything about living in a dorm and all that, but I missed my friends and family and the familiarity of being home.
It wasn't until I had been back home for a few months that Patrick and I really started hanging out again as much as we did in high school. The SWAK House became the "hub" for all of our activities and if I wasn't home or at work, I was there. I had been home about a year when things started to change. I spent a good portion of the time Patrick and I have been friends either helping to set him up with his current girlfriend or giving him advice (or razzing him about something or other) on those relationships. But one day I was jealous. I mean, super jealous of the girls he was hanging out with. I was even jealous when he took a friend of ours out to dinner to just catch up. It wasn't a date, and I knew that, but I was so jealous! I realized then that I was in trouble....again. :)
I guess about that time things started to change with Patrick too. We started hanging out with each other exclusively and there didn't need to be an excuse to do anything, we would just sit and watch TV or go to dinner (little did I know we were actually going on dates - I was so inexperienced at the dating thing and really, it was Patrick, so I just thought we were hanging out - that I didn't even realize we were actually dating! I even paid for one of our dinners out and used a coupon - and he LET ME!) I remember thinking "it would be fun to date Patrick" and that was kind of it. And then it wasn't.
One night everything changed. One night Patrick worked up the courage (after a LARGE alcoholic beverage) to actually ask me to be his girlfriend. And by ask me to be his girlfriend I mean he asked one of my girl-friends to find out if I would be interested in being his girlfriend and then one of his guy-friends played messenger back and forth with us for a bit...Yes, we were both old enough to not be so immature, but it was kind of fun to be a little goofy about it! Needless to say, we started "officially" dating that evening (even after the silliness) and things progressed from there. This would be a good place to stop and say we fell madly in love and have been happy every since. That, again, would be a lie.
The first time around, our relationship just didn't quite take. I mean we lasted almost a year as a couple before we just had to go our separate ways and while there are plenty of wonderful memories in that year, there are a few good months of some rocky times. It was really inevitable that we were going to break up when you look back on things now. About 9-10 months in to our relationship of "more than just friends" we broke up. (I will spare you the major details about how I broke up with him and we agreed to be friends and blah, blah, blah). It is hard for me to even write about that time period. I pretty much just shut down. It was by far the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life. It truly crushed me. I would wake up, go to work, come home, cry myself to sleep and start all over again. I was mean and hateful and irratable with everyone and my family just learned to keep their distance. I was certainly not handling it gracefully.
And since there is no such thing as a single Pringle, Patrick, of course, moved on...at least for a little while. We really had decided that we would try to still be friends despite how difficult it was for me to do that. We had dinner a few times and attempted to hang out occassionally, but we mostly kept our distance. About a month and a half after we broke up, Patrick called me to go to dinner. He was a little different....it wasn't as awkward as it had been and he seemed genuinely intersted in spending time with me. It was a wonderful evening that ended just as it had started...as friends.
I went down to visit my grandmother in the hospital. My grandparents lived in Rockport, TX. It was a solid 8 hour drive all by myself and gave me plenty of time to think. You see, that weekend was my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. I was actually supposed to be singing "their song" at their anniversary party as a surprise. But those plans had to be put on hold as my grandmother quickly deteriorated and was put in the hospital. I was on my way down there as a final goodbye. I remember my grandpa tirelessly at the hospital by her side - never saying a word, just being there by her side - the entire weekend. He was there from the moment he could be until they kicked him out. Grandpar was not in good health himself, but that didn't stop him from being there for her until they turned the machines off that Monday morning. It really struck me. They spent over 50 years together. That kind of love and devotion is so rare these days and it really stuck with me the whole drive home. I kept thinking of my heartbreak over mine and Patrick's breakup and how it affected me. I remember driving along and listening to some CD's and reflecting on the weekend when it hit me. Patrick was my 50 years. It was one of those strange "aha" moments that come out of nowhere. He was supposed to be mine and despite the fact that it wasn't working out in my timing (you see a recurring theme with me and an incessant need for things to be about my timing???) he was promised to me. I just needed to let Patrick get there too.
So I did what any good christian who has been given a glimpse of things to come from God would do...I pushed it. :) I called Patrick that night and told him that we had to meet up. At dinner - at On the Border! - I told him that we needed to just go ahead and get back together and just stop all this silliness with being friends. It had been about two months since we had broken up and we had a good break, but it was time to get things moving again. I guess Patrick was either too shocked with my blunt demands or he actually agreed with me because we have been together ever since. :)
A few months later he "unoffically" proposed - that story is pretty cute and while it does not involve him using his friend to run messenger for him, it was pretty close - Patrick doesn't like to committ to things without testing out the waters to see what the reaction is first. :) We were married September 29, 2001 a few weeks after 9/11. It was certainly a scary and exciting time in our lives and frankly, neither one of us have looked back since....
That's our story. I know it is long and probably way more detailed than any one who is reading this blog cares to know. And since most of you that read this blog already know our story, it is a little silly to post it. But I liked the idea of having a history interspersed with our family updates and such. Plus it is fun to reminisce...till next time!
So it all started with one boy and one girl. Not really, but I always liked that little saying. It really all started back in Junior High - at least it did for me. You see, I spotted this boy across the courtyard at lunch one day. This blond haired - green eyed boy who always seemed to be the center of attention without trying. He caught my attention and I felt a little something right away. I was boy crazy, so I pretty much felt a little something every time I spotted a boy, so don't go getting all "love at first sight on me". :) Anyways, I knew who he was because, though he will deny it and say it was all just to do with who he grew up with, he was pretty popular even then. I, on the other hand, was definitely NOT! I ran around in such a different crowd that if it weren't for the fact that my entire grade had to go out to the courtyard after lunch, our paths would likely have never crossed ever.
Anyways, as things tend to go, I saw him around and always "admired" from afar, but I set my sights on a few other boys (remember, I was boy crazy) that were at least in some of my classes and even though they were also WAY out of my league, I had more chance of being able to actually talk to any of them. Patrick and I ended up in honor society together and we did Speech/Drama and that kind of thing, but we were always in different classes and never really interacted at all in Junior High. So it is no wonder that he didn't have a clue who I was! ( I still like to tease him about that a little!)
Fast forward a few years to High School where I actually SPOKE to my future husband! You see, we were both in choir (yup - we are both Choir nerds!) and he was immediately accepted in to the Varsity choir our Sophmore year - because he has an AWESOME voice (and because he was a boy and the new program director was trying to build up the choir program). I was placed in the Varsity choir temporarily due to a scheduling mix-up and met some of the people I would end up spending the majority of my high school time with - even though I didn't know it then. But as it goes, the mix-up was corrected and I was moved to the Women's choir. I actually flourished a little and became slightly less than a huge nerd by the end of my sophmore year (mostly just in choir, but I felt large and in charge there so that was all that counted!). I auditioned for the varsity choir for Junior year and got in! Of course, by that time Patrick had already made a name for himself in choir and was at the top of everyone's list anyways.
Some of you might think that our Junior Year is where things really started to take shape for our relationship. Well, they did.....kind of. They took shape in that I started dating one of Patrick's close friends and so we started hanging out more - as a group. We were all basically inseperable and if we weren't running around doing Choir stuff and other productions, then we were hanging out on the weekends very maturly TP'ing each others houses. (there is a funny story about that one where we did that to Patrick's house and his parents watched us from their bedroom window the whole time - we thought we were being so sneaky!). From choir trips, to plays and musicals to Prom and all the other "rights of passage" you go through in high school, our group of friends became connected in a way that only the best of friends can become. And Patrick and I were definitely close friends - but no more.
Relationships come and go and people move on when they graduate from high school. I went away to East Texas Baptist University on a vocal scholarship (don't be too impressed, I think they felt bad for me and decided to take me under their wing!) in Marshall Texas. Patrick stayed in A-town and moved in to an apartment with one of our friends (Shadowbrook!) I would like to say that is a time that he and I both matured and our friendship blossomed in to something more. But that would be a big fat lie. I don't even want to know what craziness went on in that apartment and I only made it one semester before I went completely mad and had to move back to the "big city"! I LOVED Marshall and ETBU and everything about living in a dorm and all that, but I missed my friends and family and the familiarity of being home.
It wasn't until I had been back home for a few months that Patrick and I really started hanging out again as much as we did in high school. The SWAK House became the "hub" for all of our activities and if I wasn't home or at work, I was there. I had been home about a year when things started to change. I spent a good portion of the time Patrick and I have been friends either helping to set him up with his current girlfriend or giving him advice (or razzing him about something or other) on those relationships. But one day I was jealous. I mean, super jealous of the girls he was hanging out with. I was even jealous when he took a friend of ours out to dinner to just catch up. It wasn't a date, and I knew that, but I was so jealous! I realized then that I was in trouble....again. :)
I guess about that time things started to change with Patrick too. We started hanging out with each other exclusively and there didn't need to be an excuse to do anything, we would just sit and watch TV or go to dinner (little did I know we were actually going on dates - I was so inexperienced at the dating thing and really, it was Patrick, so I just thought we were hanging out - that I didn't even realize we were actually dating! I even paid for one of our dinners out and used a coupon - and he LET ME!) I remember thinking "it would be fun to date Patrick" and that was kind of it. And then it wasn't.
One night everything changed. One night Patrick worked up the courage (after a LARGE alcoholic beverage) to actually ask me to be his girlfriend. And by ask me to be his girlfriend I mean he asked one of my girl-friends to find out if I would be interested in being his girlfriend and then one of his guy-friends played messenger back and forth with us for a bit...Yes, we were both old enough to not be so immature, but it was kind of fun to be a little goofy about it! Needless to say, we started "officially" dating that evening (even after the silliness) and things progressed from there. This would be a good place to stop and say we fell madly in love and have been happy every since. That, again, would be a lie.
The first time around, our relationship just didn't quite take. I mean we lasted almost a year as a couple before we just had to go our separate ways and while there are plenty of wonderful memories in that year, there are a few good months of some rocky times. It was really inevitable that we were going to break up when you look back on things now. About 9-10 months in to our relationship of "more than just friends" we broke up. (I will spare you the major details about how I broke up with him and we agreed to be friends and blah, blah, blah). It is hard for me to even write about that time period. I pretty much just shut down. It was by far the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life. It truly crushed me. I would wake up, go to work, come home, cry myself to sleep and start all over again. I was mean and hateful and irratable with everyone and my family just learned to keep their distance. I was certainly not handling it gracefully.
And since there is no such thing as a single Pringle, Patrick, of course, moved on...at least for a little while. We really had decided that we would try to still be friends despite how difficult it was for me to do that. We had dinner a few times and attempted to hang out occassionally, but we mostly kept our distance. About a month and a half after we broke up, Patrick called me to go to dinner. He was a little different....it wasn't as awkward as it had been and he seemed genuinely intersted in spending time with me. It was a wonderful evening that ended just as it had started...as friends.
I went down to visit my grandmother in the hospital. My grandparents lived in Rockport, TX. It was a solid 8 hour drive all by myself and gave me plenty of time to think. You see, that weekend was my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. I was actually supposed to be singing "their song" at their anniversary party as a surprise. But those plans had to be put on hold as my grandmother quickly deteriorated and was put in the hospital. I was on my way down there as a final goodbye. I remember my grandpa tirelessly at the hospital by her side - never saying a word, just being there by her side - the entire weekend. He was there from the moment he could be until they kicked him out. Grandpar was not in good health himself, but that didn't stop him from being there for her until they turned the machines off that Monday morning. It really struck me. They spent over 50 years together. That kind of love and devotion is so rare these days and it really stuck with me the whole drive home. I kept thinking of my heartbreak over mine and Patrick's breakup and how it affected me. I remember driving along and listening to some CD's and reflecting on the weekend when it hit me. Patrick was my 50 years. It was one of those strange "aha" moments that come out of nowhere. He was supposed to be mine and despite the fact that it wasn't working out in my timing (you see a recurring theme with me and an incessant need for things to be about my timing???) he was promised to me. I just needed to let Patrick get there too.
So I did what any good christian who has been given a glimpse of things to come from God would do...I pushed it. :) I called Patrick that night and told him that we had to meet up. At dinner - at On the Border! - I told him that we needed to just go ahead and get back together and just stop all this silliness with being friends. It had been about two months since we had broken up and we had a good break, but it was time to get things moving again. I guess Patrick was either too shocked with my blunt demands or he actually agreed with me because we have been together ever since. :)
A few months later he "unoffically" proposed - that story is pretty cute and while it does not involve him using his friend to run messenger for him, it was pretty close - Patrick doesn't like to committ to things without testing out the waters to see what the reaction is first. :) We were married September 29, 2001 a few weeks after 9/11. It was certainly a scary and exciting time in our lives and frankly, neither one of us have looked back since....
That's our story. I know it is long and probably way more detailed than any one who is reading this blog cares to know. And since most of you that read this blog already know our story, it is a little silly to post it. But I liked the idea of having a history interspersed with our family updates and such. Plus it is fun to reminisce...till next time!
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